The Dark Age
by LucretiaDecoy
Summary: The lost soul of an ancient demon has been freed and it delights in causing havoc wherever it goes. Yusuke et al unite to try to stop it, but quickly find themselves in a very complex situation, and not just because of the enemy they must face. Set several years after the series, includes disturbing content in later chapters. Rating will go up.
1. The Demon World Tournament

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of the characters herein, they are all the property of Yoshihiro Togashi.

**A/N:** Oh gosh, this fic requires a lot of warnings (hey, it's not called "The Dark Age" for nothing), and even though some won't apply until much later in the storyline, I'm putting them all out there now to prevent anyone investing several hours of reading time into this only to be disappointed and/or irate later on. So here goes:

1. Rating is currently T, but will go up to M because of: bad language (infrequent), violence (the bloody and gory kind and the torturous emotional kind), sexual language and adult themes (unlikely to be anything too explicit, but putting a warning here to be safe).

2. This will be a very long and quite complex fic (expecting it to be my longest one yet and the complexity will come more from the plot shenanigans than actual challenging storylines). The storyline is also quite dark, in many different ways and in many different parts of the story.

3. This story will be mostly told from Yusuke and Hiei's point of view: because they are the only two characters I can promise won't be killed early in this story. Which brings me nicely to my next warning: this story contains the deaths of several major canon characters, and often by quite gruesome means.

4. Anyone who has read any of my fics before may be surprised by this one because it does two things I usually avoid: this story contains highly involved and plot relevant OCs and major canon characters will die.

5. The romances in this fic are going to be highly influenced by the dark nature of the story in general. The Yusuke/Keiko romance is very bittersweet, the Kuwabara/Yukina romance has a weird twist in it and the Hiei/Botan romance is messy (if a tad cliché, as it's executed using a fairly common non-canon pairing tool).

Perhaps needless to say, this fic is set several years after the end of the anime. The basis of the idea came from a conversation between Koenma and Ayame in the (dubbed) anime during the Chapter Black arc regarding a "dark age" that would involve an uprising in demon world against the living world.

Finally, for this chapter, I am going with Keiko's birthday being in August (according to sources, it's either January or August, but I'm going with August).

Okay, after that overly long author's rant note, on with the actual plot…

* * *

**Chapter 1 – The Demon World Tournament**

The thought of another Demon World Tournament had seemed like a good one when Yusuke had woken up that morning. It had seemed like an especially long three years since the last tournament, and he was keen to try again, eager to push himself and to test himself. He had been optimistic that this time he might win; not because he wanted to take over as King of Demon World, just because he wanted to fight against the very best, and the only way to do that was to reach the final rounds of the Demon World Tournament.

But, that nagging idea that something had been amiss had grown as the day had progressed, and, as he reached the location of the tournament arena, where sign-ups for the next tournament were taking place, Yusuke started to realise that he had been underestimating the situation. That faint scent that had been lingering in the air, that distant drone of noise, that vague sense of something ominous had flared and turned into something decidedly ugly. The day was rapidly turning into one of those when Yusuke found himself wishing that Kurama and Kuwabara both lived in Demon World with him: the former because he would be able to explain what was going on and the latter because he would have been able to sense it all many months before Yusuke himself had.

In the past, the Demon World Tournament had been a raving success, and Yusuke had always been proud of himself for having conceived the idea of it. It had been a generally positive affair, before, during and afterwards. Everyone in Demon World had always thought it a much better, fairer, more democratic system for creating a figurehead for the realm: Yusuke had jokingly called it "demonocracy", though the phrase had not caught on.

But, that year, Yusuke found himself standing outside of the tournament arena feeling torn between anger, confusion and just a hint of fear. All the posters, garlands and signs advertising the tournament had been torn down and broken or set alight. The arena itself had mostly been demolished, and the remaining rubble and wall sections had been coated with graffiti – which, on close inspection, had been applied with various bodily by-products rather than paint. Yusuke had heard stories in the news – heard rumours whispered in marketplaces and clubs – about riots and raids occurring all over Demon World, but he had thought it was nothing more than a passing phase, or maybe a new group of B-class demons who thought themselves tough; during Yusuke's time in Demon World, he had encountered several such groups: groups of B-class demons who lived in the higher levels of demon world and had no concept of the A or S-class demons, and only when they travelled into the heart of a major settlement did they learn just how weak they actually were.

But this was different. This was horrific and uncivilised – even by Demon World standards.

"It's not often I see you deep in thought, Yusuke."

Yusuke smiled – mostly in relief – and turned his head to see that someone else had joined him in his position standing on the other side of the road from the remains of the arena entrance.

"I just came here to sign up," Yusuke said. "I know I've never been the most popular guy, but I've never seen anyone put this much effort into stopping me from being a part of something."

"This really isn't the time for jokes," Hiei replied, turning his attention back to the wreckage ahead of them. "Or are you doing your usual: using humour to mask your fear and concern?"

"Funny you should ask that, Hiei," Yusuke said with a smirk. "I was just about to ask if you were doing your usual: you know, using sarcasm to mask you fear and concern?"

"Hn, I see your arsenal of quips is as tightly-loaded as ever."

"And I see your ass is as tightly-wound as ever. Now are you gonna give me some straight answers or not?"

Hiei turned to look at Yusuke again, the look of semi-amusement on his face slowly morphing into an expression of disgust and horror.

"Are you telling me you seriously have no idea what all of this signifies?" Hiei asked.

"Well, I did hear something about riots in the news," Yusuke replied, scratching a hand at the back of his head nervously. "And something hasn't felt right for a while now. But I wasn't expecting this. I wasn't expecting the arena to get trashed. Why'd they do it? Are they protesting something? I thought it was just another gang who were bitter about the outcome of the last tournament."

When Hiei did not answer him immediately, Yusuke started to feel concerned again.

"Yusuke, they destroyed the arena with everyone in it," Hiei eventually said, his voice suddenly much lower and quieter in tone. "You do know that, right? That's why you're here, isn't it?"

Yusuke refrained from telling Hiei otherwise, his concern only rivalled by his feeling of ignorance for not knowing even a fraction of what Hiei knew about the situation. He tried to console himself by considering that Hiei was in charge of the border patrol, and therefore more savvy to the general goings-on in the demon world; but another glance at the desecrated tournament arena quickly vanquished any positive feelings he had been trying to generate on the matter.

"Everyone in there perished," Hiei continued. "Everyone who was in there to sign up for the tournament was killed. Everyone."

Yusuke slowly nodded his head, partly because he did not know what to say upon hearing such dire news and partly because he was trying to figure out a way of asking Hiei exactly who "everyone" included.

"Hn, so you weren't even being sarcastic."

Yusuke turned sharply to Hiei, who had dipped his head, his eyes closed and his mouth bent into a crooked smirk.

"I don't know if that's hilarious or just deeply disconcerting," the fire demon added.

"Okay, fine," Yusuke reluctantly conceded. "I came here to sign up. I saw there'd been riots, I heard the fighting, I saw some of the fires and I could even smell some of the bloodshed and destruction: but I had no idea this was something so big. So who hates the tournament and why?"

Hiei lifted his head slightly and opened his eyes, moving crimson irises to glare up at Yusuke from the corner of his eyes.

"And cut the cryptic crap this time," Yusuke added.

"Yusuke, these events were not motivated by the tournament," Hiei replied.

"Good," Yusuke said tightly. "Nice to know this isn't my fault for once or someone after me for something I did."

"I said these events were not motivated by the tournament," Hiei said, his tone gaining an edge of tense irritation. "I didn't say these events have nothing to do with the tournament."

Yusuke frowned.

"Cut the cryptic crap," he began. "You basically did say this has nothing to do with the tournament–"

"What you see, hear and smell unfolding was a pre-determined event," Hiei cut him off. "These events would have happened regardless of whether your tournament was happening or not: whether Demon World had a single ruler who had earned the title by democratic means or whether Demon World was still divided into three factions and overseen by three bitter rivals."

"So I don't have to feel bad that my tournament caused this?"

Yusuke flashed Hiei an optimistic grin, but his gesture was met with a harsh glare and fanged sneer from the emiko.

"What you see, hear and smell unfolding is something that has occurred a few times before in Demon World history," Hiei growled. "It's a cyclical event that typically happens every 650 years. If you had ever listened to the advice I gave you repeatedly in the past, you would have learned a little of the history of our world, and you would know that the last time this happened was 566 years ago."

"Right…" Yusuke said slowly. "This happens every 650 years?"

"Yes," Hiei confirmed.

"And the last time it happened was 566 years ago?"

"Yes."

"Right. So it shouldn't be happening right now, because not enough time has passed."

"Exactly."

"If the last time this happened was 566 years ago, and it happens every 650 years, that means it's happening 106 years too early."

Hiei's face dropped.

"Basic mathematics never was your greatest strength, was it Yusuke?" he asked quietly.

"What?" Yusuke echoed.

"It's not happening 106 years too early, it's happening 84 years too early," Hiei pointed out.

"Okay, whatever, the point is it's happening too early, right?"

Hiei grunted.

"So what is happening, anyway?" Yusuke asked.

"A cyclical, apocalyptic event, due to occur only every 650 years is happening 84 years too soon," Hiei replied.

"I get that part," Yusuke sarcastically replied.

"It only happens every 650 years because that's usually how long it takes for Demon World to spawn a sufficient number of S-class and A-class demons to facilitate the event," Hiei said.

"Right, but it's happening early, I get it. I just don't get what "it" is…"

""It" is a war of the worlds: Demon World is entering into a phase of conflict and uprising against the spirit and living worlds."

"…Oh… Why didn't you just say that in the first place?"

"And "it" has been brought about early this time – for the first time ever in the history of existence as far as I know – because, in the last fifteen years, there has been an unprecedented and unnatural increase in the number of A-class and even S-class demons."

Yusuke tried to swallow but suddenly found his throat was too tight to obey his mental instruction. His eyes – which he found himself suddenly unable to blink – slowly scanned over the crumbled remains of the arena walls, decorated with slogans of hate and malignant threats written in the blood and viscera of countless bodies.

"F-fifteen years ago?" he said faintly. "That seems… Significant… To me…"

"As well it should," Hiei snorted. "It's no coincidence that this time has come about early, the acceleration of its arrival was clearly elicited by something you must surely be aware of."

Yusuke finally managed to gulp and blink, his eyes lingering on the phrase "the end is nigh, all humans must die", which had been written in the same blend of blood and offal as the other messages on the arena walls, but had caught his attention because it had been punctuated with the tip of an aqua-blue serpentine tail that could only have belonged to one of the tournament's beloved ring announcers.

"It's not only started earlier than it was meant to, it's evolving faster than it usually would," Hiei continued. "You don't have long to choose which side you will be on: and you will have to choose, because neither side of this battle will care for anyone who sits on the fence on this matter."

Yusuke slowly turned to look at Hiei, finding his friend already turned fully towards him and glaring up at him in a way that Yusuke had always found impressively intimidating for someone so short.

"What do you mean?" Yusuke asked.

"I mean we are facing an all-out war between Demon World – our home – and Spirit World and Human World," Hiei flatly replied. "You will have to choose which side you will fight on: will you fight to protect the humans and Spirit World, or will you stand shoulder-to-shoulder with your demon brethren and rise up to bring about a glorious new Dark Age?"

"…I don't like the way you worded that."

* * *

Kurama sat down onto the park bench with a heavy sigh, his hands in his pockets and his eyes watching over a group of children racing paper boats along the canal. The sun was shining in an almost perfectly blue sky, a light breeze was rustling through the trees and carrying with it the lilting babble of cheerful voices and laugher that filled the park. People of all age ranges were enjoying the park, from young couples sharing romantic picnics beneath the shade of a tree to families playing on the giant wooden animal carvings to elderly couples strolling slowly along the gravel paths decorated with fallen sakura petals. The only hint that something was amiss was the conspicuous lack of birds in the trees and ducks in the water, and the dogs that were cowering or else snarling frantically as their confused owners tried to walk them through the park.

That and the myriad of demon insects swarming over the park and encroaching into the city beyond.

Kurama did not so much as blink when a large hand grabbed at a fanged dragonfly by his face, crushing the insect effortlessly into a pile of dust. As the owner of the hand sat down at the other end of the bench along from Kurama, the fox demon vaguely wondered if any of the humans in the park thought it odd that, despite the pleasant weather and the warmth of the sun, two men were sitting on a park bench bundled up in winter coats and huddled over as though it was the height of winter.

"It gets worse every day."

"I hope you're referring to the insects," Kurama commented.

From the corner of his eye, Kurama saw Kuwabara nod.

"It's accelerating faster than I would have expected," Kurama continued.

"Yeah, looks like Koenma called this one about as well as he called Sensui's little tunnel digging operation," Kuwabara replied, slapping a hand onto his own shoulder to squash another Demon World bug.

"It won't be long now," Kurama said. "I finished my job yesterday."

Kurama saw Kuwabara turn his head to look directly at him, but the fox demon kept his eyes forward.

"I haven't told my mother," he continued. "I'm not sure how to. I want to tell her to go somewhere safe, but…"

"Nowhere is safe, right?" Kuwabara responded.

Kurama nodded solemnly.

"I have a very bad feeling about all of this," he said.

"It's basically the end of the world, Kurama," Kuwabara replied. "You'd have to be crazy to not have a bad feeling about it."

"That's not what I meant," Kurama corrected him. "I meant Koenma's confidence has not inspired any hope in me. I believe he has grossly underestimated how quickly this will occur and how severe it will be. He is ill prepared. He wasn't alive when it happened the last time. This will be the fourth dark age of my lifetime."

Kuwabara shifted in his seat awkwardly.

"So, um, which side were you on for the other three times?" he mumbled.

Kurama turned his head slightly towards Kuwabara, giving him a hard look that he appeared to understand as he flared his nostrils and frowned in an expression of alarm.

"Don't concern yourself, I have no doubts where my loyalties lie this time around," Kurama assured him. "I will defend this world with my life. The only reservation I hold – that you should surely appreciate – is that we will need strong allies to stand alongside us if we are to stand any chance of protecting our loved ones and salvaging what we can of their homes."

"Hey, you're sitting here feeling sorry for yourself because you just quit your job to start preparing for this," Kuwabara tightly replied. "How the heck do you think I feel? I had to quit my job four years ago to start preparing for this! And this last year has been really difficult for me and Yukina."

Kurama nodded sympathetically.

"Yes, that little spanner Koenma threw into the works was both unexpected and unpleasant for the two of you, I'm sure," he said.

Kuwabara nodded.

"If I had any doubts about fighting in this myself, they disappeared over this last year," he said through a wry half-smile, his tone dripping with bitter irony. "I can hardly send three kids in to a fight I'm not gonna stand up and join myself, right?"

Kurama nodded again.

"Now that I have more spare time, I shall join you in your preparations full-time," he offered.

"You don't trust me to train those kids?" Kuwabara asked. "I maybe haven't fought in your Demon World Tournament, but I haven't lost my edge, y'know."

"It's been a long time since I've seen you fight to the limit of your abilities," Kurama said.

"Exactly," Kuwabara said with a hint of smugness in his tone

"And it's been equally as long since you have witnessed the extent of my abilities," Kurama added darkly.

Kuwabara's smile vanished and Kurama stood up from the bench, his hands still in his pockets, mostly to keep them warm from the cold in the air that seemed so far to only be affecting animals and those with heightened spiritual awareness.

"I think it's about time I met your students, Kuwabara," he said.

Kuwabara stood up.

"Wh-what, now?" he asked.

Kurama paused, his nose twitching slightly as a change in the air reached his delicate olfactory senses.

"Perhaps not right now," he corrected himself. "Perhaps right now we should start towards Genkai's temple."

"Genkai's old place?" Kuwabara asked. "Why?"

Kurama turned to look directly at Kuwabara, waiting a few seconds for the human to notice what he had too.

"Oh right," he eventually muttered. "They're on their way. We should get there before Urameshi eats all the best cakes."

* * *

"Amn't I little too old for party hats?"

"Nonsense! You're never too old for party hats!"

Keiko paused, one hand around the brightly coloured party hat Botan had handed her, the other stretching out the elastic strap attached to it. Her eyes watched as Botan, wearing a miniature. fluorescent pink, plastic cowboy hat spun around the kitchen. Her eyes then moved to Shizuru, who was opening another bottle of vodka.

"Shizuru…?" Keiko said slowly. "Don't you think we've got enough alcohol out already?"

Shizuru looked across the room at her in a way that seemed to suggest she thought Keiko was the one being ridiculous. Keiko moved her eyes to Botan again, watching as she finished her glass of punch with a smile. The ferry girl's face was flushed pink, and her hair – which had been styled into a gorgeous French plait – had become a little untidy, with stray strands of blue poking out of her head in every direction. She looked down at the empty transparent plastic cup in her hands, drawing Keiko's attention in that direction too, whereupon she noticed that the cup was covered in lipstick marks and sweaty fingerprints.

"Here it is," Yukina said sweetly as she entered the kitchen, her arms cradling the ornate glass bowl Shizuru had brewed the punch in earlier that day.

"Why is it empty?" Keiko asked. "Did someone spill it?"

She cast Botan a suspicious look, but her attention quickly moved to Shizuru when she heard her friend snort as though amused by her questions.

"Yeah someone spilled it," Shizuru said, moving over to the bowl as Yukina placed it down onto the worktop surface. "Someone spilled it all down their throat."

From her adjusted position behind Botan, Shizuru arched her eyebrows at Keiko in a way that made her realise exactly what had become of the punch.

"Ah," she said, nodding her understanding.

"Oh dear!" Yukina said suddenly. "Look at the time!"

Botan's head whipped around and she staggered slightly, her eyes squinting up at the clock on the wall.

"Oopsie!" she said, grinning lazily. "Excuse me ladies: places to meet, people to be."

Keiko, Shizuru and Yukina watched the ferry girl stagger from the room before all turning to exchange wary looks as they heard her stumble out the front door and then take off on her oar, wobbling past the kitchen window before correcting her flight path and shakily taking off over the trees.

"Will she be alright?" Keiko asked Shizuru.

"Of course she will. She's a professional."

Keiko turned to Koenma, who had appeared in the kitchen doorway, looking older than usual in his adult form. He was unusually tense and his humour had gained a distinctly dark edge to it of late; though she could well understand why.

"Come on ladies, don't look so glum," he said, attempting a smile from behind his pacifier. "This could be the last party we have for a very long time, so let's make the most of it, right?"

"I just wish it didn't have to be this way," Keiko said morosely. "Or this day…"

"Cheer up, sweetheart," Shizuru said to her. "Pretty soon the others'll be here too and we can just enjoy one last night of freedom."

"I don't like that my birthday has to be our "last night of freedom"," Keiko said with a sigh. "And even if it is, it's still no guarantee Yusuke will bother to show up. He didn't bother coming to my birthday party last year, and that was a pretty big birthday for him to miss."

"I'm sure he'll come, Keiko!" Yukina said.

"He better come," Koenma said. "After all, it's partly his fault we're in this mess."

Keiko felt the colour draining from her face, but Koenma appeared not to notice her horror as he continued with his speech.

"After all, if he hadn't created the Demon World Tournament and encouraged every demon in Demon World to get stronger and then put the S-class demons into the tournament in front of the entire population of Demon World – showing them all exactly what an S-class demon looked like and was capable of – we wouldn't be in the situation we are now, with an off-balance of high-powered demons that has inevitably led to the early dawning of the… Dark… Age…"

Koenma's voice slowly trailed off as he glanced back and forth between Keiko's pale and shaking visage and Shizuru's stern and threatening glower.

"Not that I blame Yusuke for any of this," he added quietly.

Yukina hurriedly pulled out a bar stool from the breakfast bar and positioned it behind Keiko as she slouched backwards in a partial collapse.

"I hate this," Keiko said faintly, her eyes unfocused. "I'm so scared…"

Koenma nodded.

"We all are," he said.

* * *

"Hey short stuff, you still haven't answered me," Yusuke said as he and Hiei clambered over another rocky ledge and onto the last long stretch of path leading to the steps up to Genkai's temple. "Whose side are you on?"

"Hn, you shouldn't even need to ask that question," Hiei scoffed.

"Yeah, well, I am asking it," Yusuke said. "So just answer me already!"

Yusuke moved around to stand in front of Hiei, blocking his path onwards towards the temple.

"I mean it, Hiei," he insisted. "I don't understand what's going on, but I'd feel a lot better about it all if I knew for sure you were on my side in it all."

Hiei's eyes wandered to something above and beyond Yusuke's head, an amused smirk gracing his lips.

"It's little wonder you need the reassurance of knowing I'm "on your side"," he said. "Since it seems as though your side needs all the help it can get."

Yusuke started to ask Hiei what he meant, but the sound of cracking tree branches and a shrill cry of alarm caused him to turn on the spot, his legs moving and his arms outstretching on instinct. His feet stopped an instant after a weight caught in his arms and he looked down at first in alarm at the limp female body in his arms, dressed in an exceptionally exquisite kimono and looking almost graceful were it not for the fact that she had lost one sandal and her pale blue hair had mostly fallen out of the tightly woven style it had been trained into.

"Botan?" he said.

The ferry girl lifted her head, grabbing a handful of his shirt to help herself up.

"Yusuke!" she said cheerfully. "It's so good to see you again!"

Yusuke started to frown as he noticed the glazed look in her normally crystalline pink eyes and he realised that the stench of alcohol in the air was emanating from her breath.

"Like I said: it looks like "your side" needs all the help it can get," Hiei said as he walked past Yusuke.

Yusuke lifted his head to watch Hiei continue onwards at a leisurely pace, as though their visit to the living world was purely a social one. Yusuke only looked away again when Botan reaffirmed her grip on his shirt, drawing his eyes back down to her.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he asked her quietly.

"Lord Koenma says everyone deals with grief in different ways, Yusuke," she replied.

"Grief? What are you talking about?" the mazoku asked.

Botan shook her head and began struggling in his arms. As she narrowly missed smacking the underside of his jaw with an elbow, Yusuke roughly planted her on her feet, ignoring the way she held up her foot that was missing a sandal after inadvertently stepping onto an especially sharp rock.

"I knew it would have to happen," she muttered, grabbing at Yusuke's arm to steady herself as she tried to balance on one foot; something that was proving particularly difficult for her as she was barely able to balance on both feet in her current state of inebriation. "I knew this time would come and I knew it would come early because of what we did, but… It just isn't fair…"

She released Yusuke's arm and covered her face with her hands, mumbling out an "ouch" as she was forced to stand onto her unprotected foot again. Yusuke sighed as he spotted her sandal.

"I don't have a clue what's going on, Botan," he said as he started towards her dropped footwear. "I was hoping you might have some answers. The last thing I was expecting was to find you drunker than my mum on Golden Day…"

Yusuke held out Botan's sandal towards her, waiting patiently for her to accept it back. At first she did not seem to notice his gesture, her face still pressed into her hands; but eventually she lowered her hands and her eyes moved to her sandal. She reached a shaky hand out towards it, but instead of taking the sandal, she placed her hand over Yusuke's and looked him straight in the eye.

"I never meant for this to happen," she said faintly.

"Chill out, Botan," Yusuke dryly replied. "Chicks lose their shoes all the time when they get drunk."

She smiled, but her eyes looked infinitely sadder. Yusuke sighed again and lowered himself onto one knee in front of her. He grabbed her ankle with one hand, causing her to yelp and place a hand on his shoulder to steady herself as he lifted her foot from the ground.

"Kurama's here though, right?" he said as he manoeuvred the sandal back onto Botan's foot.

"I haven't seen him," Botan replied.

Yusuke placed Botan's foot back onto the ground and stood up again.

"Why are you here?" he asked her.

"I came here with Lord Koenma to say goodbye," she replied.

"What?" Yusuke echoed.

"I said I came here because it's Keiko's birthday party."

Yusuke froze.

"Ah damnit!" he groaned. "She's still pissed I missed her sixteenth birthday party…"

Botan snorted and smiled genuinely for the first time that day.

"I'm glad you think it's funny, Botan!" Yusuke said, rolling his eyes. "I didn't even get her a card! Maybe I could pick her some flowers before I get there…"

Yusuke began scanning around the forest for signs of anything flowery that was not a prickled weed or a buttercup.

"Sixteenth birthday party!"

Yusuke slowly turned back to Botan, watching as she giggled and snorted into the sleeve of her unusually fanciful red kimono. He took a moment to notice the fancy way Botan's hair had been styled – prior to her binge drinking ruining it – and the fancy kimono she was wearing – the kind she usually only wore to very special occasions – and the hint of rouge on her cheeks, the slightly smudged mascara on her eyes and the remains of pink lip gloss at the edges of her mouth.

Yusuke cursed.

"This isn't an ordinary birthday…" he grumbled. "Damnit, not only did I forget again, but I forgot a special one, too!"

He sighed.

"How old is she now anyway?" he mused.

"She's still the same age as you, silly!" Botan replied. "Don't you remember how old you are?"

"Time moves differently in Demon World!" Yusuke snapped back at her. "Now shut-up and let me think… Let's see here… Her sixteenth was right before the first Demon World Tournament we had… Then we had the next one three years later, where Enki won again… Then we had another one another three years later, where it ended in a draw between Shura and Mukuro – damn, that was fun… Then we had another one three years later where Kokou won, and that was real fun for the next three years, before we had another one that Enki won again, and now it's time for another one… So there's been five tournaments, and this year would have been the sixth one, and there's three years between each tournament, so six times three is nine, and Keiko was sixteen at the first tournament, so sixteen plus nine is twenty-three… Huh. I don't get it Botan. What's so special about Keiko turning twenty-three?"

Yusuke moved his eyes to Botan expectantly, but instead of finding the slightly worse for wear ferry girl he found Kuwabara standing in her place, looking back at him with a distinct air of apathy.

"Damnit Urameshi, you never were any good at math, huh?" Kuwabara muttered as their eyes met.

"It's nice to see you again too, Kuwabara," Yusuke replied.

"It's been fifteen years since the first Demon World Tournament," Kuwabara said. "Fifteen plus sixteen is thirty-one: you missed the special birthday last year."

Yusuke's face dropped.

"Keiko was really disappointed that you didn't show up for her thirtieth birthday," Kuwabara continued. "Especially since it was the same day two of her friends from high school had their baby showers."

"Keiko's thirty-one already?" Yusuke echoed.

Kuwabara nodded solemnly.

"Gees, I can't believe I'm in my thirties already!" Yusuke said, shaking his head. "When I was thirteen, I was sure I'd die before I turned thirty! Damnit, I didn't even remember to celebrate my own thirtieth birthday! Hey Kuwabara, what did you do on your thirtieth?"

Kuwabara's face remained strangely dark and stern, and Yusuke started to wonder if he had said something inappropriate.

"I spent my thirtieth birthday the same way I spent the last three birthdays before it: preparing for the Dark Age."

Yusuke sobered then, his mind draining of anything other than the last two words Kuwabara had spoken.

"Right, yeah," he said quietly. "So… You knew about this "Dark Age"?"

Kuwabara nodded.

"I maybe haven't been in Demon World to see it all starting up like you and Hiei have, but I've been here, feeling it, knowing it was coming," he said.

"Kinda wish you'd told me sooner if you've known about it for three years already…" Yusuke muttered.

"I've known about it for four years, Urameshi."

Yusuke frowned and Kuwabara nodded again.

"You should have visited more often," he said. "Though I guess you have good reasons for not visiting. Some of the things I've had to do these last few years have been real difficult. I guess it must have been much worse for you, in Demon World, right in the middle of it all, right?"

Yusuke nodded numbly, though the look on Kuwabara's face suggested that his old friend had been through far worse than arriving at a tournament arena and finding it debased with the remains of a few defenceless demons.

"Koenma's back at Genkai's place already," Kuwabara continued. "As usual, Spirit World got their calculations wrong again: he said we'd have another year before the fighting started, but I don't think we've even got another week before it all kicks off."

Yusuke tried to smile, but the persistently dark look on Kuwabara's face promptly snuffed out any sense of good humour he had been trying to inject into their conversation.

"Let's go hear what the brat has to say then," he said instead.

Kuwabara nodded, and together they started towards the temple steps.

* * *

Hiei kept his eyes on the temple gate – which he had a good view of from the porch of the temple – though from the corner of his eye he could see Kurama standing at his side and the dithering ferry girl standing on Kurama's other side, hanging onto the fox demon's arm to keep herself upright.

"So fox, how long ago did you see this coming?" Hiei asked sarcastically as Yusuke and Kuwabara finally appeared by the top of the temple steps at the other end of the lawn.

"A lot sooner than you did, that's for sure."

Hiei stole a sideward glance at Kurama: his answer had been unusually biting and dark.

"It's no coincidence that this Dark Age has come early," Hiei said as he moved his eyes back to Yusuke. "As our resident old man, why don't you tell us if this has ever happened before?"

"This has never happened before," Kurama flatly replied. "As well you already know."

"This Dark Age may only truly be dawning now, but essentially it began fifteen years ago," Hiei commented.

"That's the part that hurts the most."

Hiei's lip twitched in a brief sneer of displeasure at the ferry girl's inane interjection.

"Placing blame is a fruitless exercise now," Kurama said to her. "And of little help. What's done is done. We must deal with it and move forward."

"I wasn't placing blame," Hiei said. "I just find it interesting that in the history of Demon World, no Dark Age has ever come ahead of schedule until now. Surely such a unique event warrants some sort of recognition."

"That depends," Kurama said.

"On what?" Hiei asked.

"On the size of the ego of the person asking the question."

Hiei smirked as he watched Yusuke swaggering towards the temple, apparently genuinely unaware of the fact that his meddling in Demon World politics and strategies had created the perfect conditions for another Dark Age, some eighty-four years ahead of schedule. Yusuke had broken many records and standards in all three worlds, but this one had to be, by far, the most impressive in Hiei's eyes.

"I wish it didn't have to be this way."

Hiei tried to ignore the drunken ferry girl's words.

"If it was us who caused it to come about early, why shouldn't it also be us – and us alone – who have to fix it?" she rambled on. "Why do innocents have to get hurt in the process?"

"Don't waste your energy on guilt," Kurama advised her.

"I suppose there is room to debate exactly whose fault it is," Hiei said. "But we all know the real reason the Dark Age has come early: it's just the final consequence of the ripples Yusuke's been creating in Demon World ever since he became a spirit detective."

"There Botan, you see?" Kurama said. "Hiei doesn't blame himself and so neither should you."

"Hn, I'm not so arrogant that I think my influence on Yusuke led to him bringing about the early dawning of a Dark Age," Hiei snorted. "Is that what the rest of you think of yourselves?"

Hiei looked up at Kurama expectantly, but he forgot his argument entirely when he saw the fox demon looking suddenly oddly tense, his eyes locked onto something ahead of them. Hiei turned in the direction Kurama was looking and found his eyes landing on Kuwabara. Hiei smiled humourlessly as he waited for the human to make some embarrassing attempt at a witty remark: but the moment never came. Instead, Kuwabara stood silently staring back at Hiei, his mouth set at an odd angle, his eyes unevenly narrowed.

"Aw c'mon, you guys!" Yusuke said in a mockingly cheerful tone. "Aren't you both past that whole love-hate thing you do with each other?"

"Hn, I don't know what you're talking about," Hiei said smugly.

"Yeah you don't."

Hiei faltered slightly at Kuwabara's gruff response, his momentary lapse in concentration allowing Kuwabara to catch him off-guard as he started across the porch towards the front door, his elbow crashing into Hiei's shoulder in a way that set him back a step. Hiei was so shocked at both the audacity of Kuwabara's action and just how much force he had put into it, that he did not even attempt to retaliate, instead watching over his shoulder as Kuwabara continued indoors, before finally turning to the others. The ferry girl had one hand loosely covering her gaping mouth, the other clutching her kimono by her heart, Kurama was still watching Kuwabara's retreat with the same tense look on his face and Yusuke looked as puzzled as Hiei felt.

"I just don't like this!" the ferry girl gasped, her voice hushed yet dramatic.

She darted indoors with surprising agility given her physical state, and, his anger starting to mount and the blow to his pride acknowledged, Hiei started indoors himself, intent on finding Kuwabara and putting the idiot back in his place.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** Koenma explains what the Dark Age is and the gang try to enjoy Keiko's birthday party: though they all have other matters on their minds. **Chapter 2 – The Dark Age**


	2. The Dark Age

**Chapter 2 – The Dark Age**

Yusuke, who had been nonchalantly strolling through the corridors of Genkai's temple with his hands in his pockets, stopped abruptly as he sighted Keiko. She was standing in the kitchen, wearing one of those cheap plastic party hats, the elastic pulled over her cheeks, which were being pushed up by a forced and awkward smile. It was not unlike Keiko to pretend to be happy when she was not, to pretend to be at ease with something that she was actually terrified of; but Yusuke had never seen her look the way she did right then. Her forced smile was highlighting lines in her face that he had never noticed before – and some were too deep and too formed to be just a temporary effect of her expression. He edged closer to the kitchen doorway, stopping again when Kuwabara's sister came into his line of sight: and again Yusuke stopped.

Shizuru was as tall and toned as ever, and her dress sense was still bordering on too masculine, her femininity only salvaged by her long, silky hair and the faint hint of her figure through her clothing. But she was even more changed than Keiko: her cheekbones were more pronounced, her face looking quite gaunt despite her body looking no thinner, the skin on her face looked duller and there was no way of ignoring the flashes of silver grey by the roots of her freshly coloured hair.

Yusuke had never thought about anyone getting older, least of all his friends. He himself looked barely any older than he had when he had competed in the first Demon World Tournament: but time had not been so kind to his human friends.

Keiko gasped and clutched a hand to her chest, her eyes widening slightly. Yusuke already knew what the look meant: she had, in that uncanny way that she always did, sensed his presence. He knew that he ought to use that as his cue to step into the kitchen and make himself known, but when he saw her eyes blur with tears, he heard Kuwabara's comments about how he had missed her thirtieth birthday echoing around his head, and he suddenly felt overcome with guilt.

His life was near eternal, his youth would last centuries: by comparison, Keiko would age and die in the blink of an eye.

Yusuke shuffled back along the hall, keeping his eyes on the kitchen door in case Keiko came out looking for him. He only halted his retreat when his back collided with something that grunted. Looking back over his shoulder, he found his one female friend who apparently shared his extended lifespan and prolonged youthful appearance.

"Gees Botan, you're stripping the enamel from my teeth with your breath," he grumbled, turning around to look at the ferry girl. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"It's all my fault, Yusuke!" she wailed.

"That's not what Hiei thinks," Yusuke flatly replied. "The little bastard thinks this is all my fault…"

"Hiei…"

Botan touched a finger clumsily to her lips and looked about the empty hallway.

"Where is Hiei?" she asked.

"Damned if I know," Yusuke replied. "Where's Koenma?"

"Lord Koenma is performing his duties as the godfather."

Yusuke slowly let his face warp into an expression of his confusion and growing impatience.

"I really hope everyone else in spirit world is taking this a lot more seriously than you are, idiot," he complained.

"It just isn't fair, Yusuke," she said, still looking about the hall. "It was never supposed to be this way."

"Yeah, the dawning of the apocalypse wasn't exactly how I imagined this summer would end," Yusuke sarcastically replied.

"Me neither, but maybe now that everybody's here, we can start figuring out a way to stop the apocalypse before it even dawns."

Yusuke turned to the source of the voice that had just spoken, at first strangely relieved to see Koenma standing in the hall in his adult form. He cocked a smirk and started to make a joke at his former boss's expense; but he stopped short when Botan rounded on Koenma and said something that broke his concentration.

"What are you doing here, Sir?" she demanded. "I've been drinking, you know!"

Koenma pulled a face at Botan, but she remained stern, her fists clenched in the air ahead of her sneering visage.

"We're meeting in the living room, Yusuke," he said, glancing over at Yusuke.

"I'll stay away from the punch," Yusuke replied, purposefully glaring at Botan as he said the word "punch".

"I don't know if I can do this!" Botan wailed.

Yusuke turned towards her with the intention of yelling at her to calm down: after all, she was hardly the one to blame for what had happened, and getting drunk and crying about it was about the worst and most uncharacteristic thing for her to do: but he stopped short when Koenma grabbed her arms and looked her straight in the eye.

"You have to pull yourself together, Botan," he said. "We're all going to have to do a lot of things we're not going to like over the coming days, weeks, months and maybe even years. Nobody said it would be easy."

"But nobody said it would be so hard!" she sobbed.

Yusuke faltered as he saw the look of genuine concern in Koenma's face. It had been a long time since he had seen the prince look so empathetic towards another. In fact, he thought darkly, the last time he had seen Koenma look so empathetic had been when the prince had found him mourning Genkai's death. Koenma was so caught up in poring sympathy onto Botan, he appeared not to notice that someone else was approaching. Yusuke turned to Yukina, who had fixed her worried red eyes onto Botan.

"Oh Botan, please don't cry!" she said.

"But it's not fair!" Botan moaned, before covering her face with her hands.

"Let her say goodbye," Koenma said quietly to Yukina.

Yusuke wondered exactly who Botan was saying goodbye to: but when Koenma released Botan and Yukina guided her towards the kitchen, where Shizuru and Keiko still were, he realised then that the girls were saying goodbye to each other.

"So…" he said slowly as he watched the girls leaving. "Things are pretty bad this time, huh?"

"This is just the tip of the iceberg, Yusuke," Koenma replied. "The Dark Age is too far ahead of schedule, and we have all had a part to play in bringing about this catastrophe, the least we can all do is try to set it right."

"So Hiei was right?" Yusuke asked, turning to Koenma. "This is what a "Dark Age" is?"

Koenma turned to him, still looking considerably and uncomfortably more serious than usual.

"Pretty much," he said. "Though it is starting 84 years too early."

"Hiei said that too," Yusuke said.

"Hiei says a lot of things."

"Not really. He didn't tell me anything useful. I was sorta hoping you would."

"Of course. But I don't want to waste anyone's time repeating myself. Let's meet up with the others, and I'll tell you all at once."

Yusuke nodded and followed Koenma down the hallway.

* * *

Hiei stepped into the living room, where he found Kurama kneeling on the floor by a low table, pouring tea. Kuwabara was pacing about by one end of the room, but he stopped as he sighted Hiei, that disgruntled look returning to his face. Hiei had not forgotten what the idiot had done to him outside, and he started towards the human to warn him that his retribution would be forthcoming: but before he could even draw breath to issue a threat, Kuwabara started toward him, stopping a little too close in front of him for Hiei's liking.

"You've got some nerve coming back here," he said quietly.

Hiei glanced over at Kurama, who had not paused from his task of preparing tea: though he knew that the fox demon was no doubt listening and observing very carefully what was going on between himself and Kuwabara.

"I didn't return here by choice," Hiei told Kuwabara.

"Well I just want you to know you're not even welcome here."

Hiei did not particularly care that Kuwabara had said what he had. He barely even cared that the human had pointed a finger in his face as he had made his last remark. But Hiei did care about the fact that, with Kuwabara's hand hovering in the air between them, he could see that relatively worthless band of semi-precious metal around one of the human's grubby fingers that apparently symbolised something pathetic. Kuwabara seemed to pinpoint exactly where Hiei's eyes were fixed as he opened out his hand in the air and glanced down at the ring himself for a moment before letting his hand fall to his side.

"Don't worry about it, Hiei," he said. "It doesn't make us in-laws."

"Hn, I don't care for such trivialities," Hiei assured him.

"Though Kuwabara's marriage to Yukina does literally make you in-laws."

Hiei turned to give Kurama a flat look in the hope of conveying how unwelcome his comment had been; but the fox demon was still casually pouring out tea as though he had not just said something contentious and interfering.

"Huh?"

Hiei turned to the doorway and suppressed a curse as he saw Yusuke staring at him with wide eyes and a slack jaw.

"You should have visited more often, Urameshi," Kuwabara grumbled, before stomping over to sit down at Kurama's side.

Yusuke watched him leave before turning incredulous and inquisitive brown eyes to Hiei.

"Don't ask, Yusuke," Hiei warned him.

Hiei started towards the table, almost tripping en route as he heard Koenma's snide comment behind his back.

"Things have been a little tense around here ever since Yukina found out Hiei is her brother and then she married Kuwabara."

Hiei sat down opposite Kurama, glaring accusingly at his old friend, who merely placed a bowl of tea down in front of him without looking directly at him.

"Damn, maybe I really should have visited more often…" Yusuke commented as he sat down at Hiei's side. "Time just kept getting away from me. I still can't believe it's been sixteen years since I moved to demon world…"

Hiei growled at him but Yusuke was too busy thanking Kurama for the tea to notice.

"Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei," Koenma said as he sat down at the end of the table. "Thank you all for coming here today."

"Yeah, I didn't have anything better to do," Yusuke replied.

"This isn't funny, Urameshi," Kuwabara complained.

"Nobody said that it was," Koenma interjected. "But frankly I would suggest that you all try to hold on to your sense of humour for as long as you possibly can."

"Okay, enough with the ominous talk," Yusuke said with an exaggerated eye-roll. "Just tell us what the hell this "Dark Age" is and what we need to do next."

"The Dark Age is something that happens every 650 years," Koenma replied.

"Hiei already gave me the history lesson," Yusuke said. "Skip to the part where you tell us what it actually is."

"Fine," Koenma tightly replied. "The Dark Age is a dark time when an ancient evil force within demon world arises and takes control."

"Takes control of what?" Yusuke asked.

"Everything," Koenma replied. "First the weak demons, then the strong, then it moves outside of demon world and tries to consume everything else. I wasn't alive during any of the previous Dark Ages, but I believe one of us at this table was."

"Yes," Kurama said. "This Dark Age, whilst it has differed from others in that it has come early, is otherwise presenting itself in the same manner as it always has done previously. The Dark Force only awakens when two conditions have been met: when there are sufficient A-class and S-class demons to support its uprising and when there is a sufficient challenge for it to face."

"Challenge?" Yusuke asked.

"Yes," Koenma confirmed. "Thank you, Kurama. You've said quite enough. The Dark Age is thankfully a balanced act: a bit like how Sensui said he didn't attack the living world until he thought there was someone strong enough to defend it, a Dark Age only dawns when there are strong forces to both support and oppose it. And that's basically what the Dark Age is all about: an ultimate showdown between light and dark. The Dark Age is usually categorised into four stages, and we are advancing quite rapidly through stage one, so it's vital that we act now before things deteriorate and it reaches stage two."

"What's stage two?" Kuwabara asked.

"Don't bother answering that," Hiei said, ignoring the angered scowl his words earned him from Kuwabara. "Just explain what all four stages are right now, before we go around the table with someone else asking about each of the other three stages in turn."

"Hiei's right," Kurama said to Kuwabara. "The stages of the Dark Age will make far more sense if they are each explained in turn."

Hiei and the others turned to Koenma expectantly. Hiei did not fail to notice the vague hint of reluctance on the spirit world monarch's face, and he was sure that even Kuwabara had been astute enough to also see it, but thankfully Koenma did give an answer to what had been asked of him.

"Stage one is the uprising," he said. "It's the time when the Dark Force rises up and causes discontent in demon world. I'm sure Yusuke and Hiei could tell us more about what that has looked like lately, and it will only get worse. Most won't know what's happening or why they feel angry or aggressive, and those that do know what is happening will either flee from it or they will embrace it and indulge it. And that will bring about stage two, which is the fall of demon world."

"What?" Yusuke echoed.

"Just let him finish," Hiei warned.

"Things become so unsettled that war erupts and eventually demon world falls," Koenma continued. "And that is stage two."

Hiei saw Yusuke finally start to look serious and Kuwabara start to look fearful: which was more the sort of reactions he had been expecting from both of them when they started to understand the facts.

"Most Dark Ages end during stage two or in the very early part of stage three," Kurama offered. "As far as my knowledge extends, no previous Dark Age has gone beyond the middle of stage three, and stage four is purely a hypothetical situation."

"That's correct," Koenma confirmed. "Almost all of the Dark Ages of the past have ended as demon world is falling, but some have progressed beyond that, beyond the demise of demon world, including the last one. Stage three is when the Dark Force moves out of demon world – because there's nothing left there for it to feed on – and it starts it's assault on spirit world. As that happens, any demons under its influence that are still alive move into the living world, wrecking havoc there. The last Dark Age stalled in stage three for over a century, and created a time in human world history you all may be more familiar with as "the feudal era"."

"Perhaps, just so that everyone here is clear on the facts Koenma, you should also explain why the last Dark Age created the feudal era in the living world," Kurama said.

Hiei already knew exactly what Kurama was trying to force Koenma into admitting, and he had to fight back a smirk of genuine amusement as he watched Koenma nervously glance between Yusuke and Kuwabara, who were both leaning towards him and watching him expectantly.

"I'll come back to that point," Koenma carefully said, moving his eyes to Kurama. "But thanks for making it, Kurama."

He was trying to look angrily at Kurama, but he was still too flustered to pull off a successful scowl.

"The important thing to focus on right now, is that we are still in stage one of this Dark Age," he continued. "And we need to focus our efforts on holding it there, and then pushing back until it ends, all the while bearing in mind what stage two is – the fall of demon world – and doing everything we can to make sure it doesn't get that far."

"What about stage four?"

Hiei was quite surprised to hear Kuwabara ask the question: Koenma had done such a fine job of glossing over the details of stage four of the Dark Age (and indeed the finer points of stage three) that he had not expected someone as single-minded as Kuwabara to notice the obvious gap in the information they had been given.

"Didn't you hear what Kurama said?" Koenma replied. "No Dark Age has ever reached stage four. It's just a hypothetical situation."

"Right, so go ahead and tell us then," Yusuke said. "If it's only guesswork, what's the harm in telling us? What happens after the Dark Force moves into spirit world and the demons all move into the living world?"

Koenma looked about the other nervously before sighing in defeat.

"Stage three is summarised as the fall of spirit world," he said.

"What?" Kuwabara yelped.

"But it's important to note that no Dark Age has ever reached the end of stage three before," Koenma hurriedly added. "Though each Dark Age does play out with that intention in mind. Once the Dark Force has destroyed demon world, it seeks to destroy spirit world, because, without spirit world, the living world falls into chaos. Lost souls have nowhere to go and so they roam the living world and grow resentful, and the Dark Force wants that to happen because it can feed off the negative energy of the dead and become stronger."

"Yo Koenma, that pretty much sounds like the end of absolutely everything," Yusuke pointed out. "And that's still stage three?"

"Well, technically, that's entering into stage four," Koenma replied.

"So just tell us what stage four is already!" Yusuke snapped.

"Stage four is when demon world is destroyed, spirit world is gone and the Dark Force takes over the living world until there is nothing left and it's the end of absolutely everything. Are you happy now?"

"No!" Kuwabara wailed.

Koenma sighed and hung his head.

"Look, I deliberately gathered you all here today because I knew you'd be having a party for Keiko, and I wanted you all to just enjoy it," he said.

"Because this is the last time we'll all be able to gather like this," Hiei suggested.

Koenma gave Hiei a dark look that was only rivalled by Yusuke's, and Kuwabara continued to look afraid: but at least Kurama remained reasonable.

"As bleak as that sounds, that's probably true," the fox demon said. "We should enjoy today, because there is a very good chance this will be last time that the ten of us will be together in a safe and pleasant setting where we aren't fighting for our lives and the fate of humanity."

"You mean there is a very good chance this will be the last time the ten of us will be together, because we are unlikely to survive a Dark Age without losing at least one of our comrades in battle," Hiei said.

"Nobody likes you," Kuwabara grumbled.

"Hey!" Yusuke protested. "If this really is our last night before we have to stop something weird from killing us, let's not waste it threatening to kill each other, okay?"

"Fine by me," Kuwabara agreed, rising from the table. "I gotta make a phone call."

Koenma stood up and looked around the others with a forced smile.

"Let's try not to worry the girls about this just yet," he suggested. "With any luck, most of them won't even be affected by it."

"Right," Yusuke agreed, standing up from the table and stretching. "Tomorrow morning, I'm going back to demon world and I'm gonna find this Dark Force bastard who's behind this and kick his ass. But tonight, I'm gonna go get some cake."

Yusuke left the room and Hiei and Kurama slowly stood from the table.

"Is it worth telling him that the person behind this may be someone he loves?" Kurama asked.

"Hn, knowing the way his brain works, its probably better to just let him figure it out for himself when he sees it with his own eyes," Hiei replied.

"Yes, you're probably correct," Kurama agreed. "And for tonight, Yusuke too is probably also correct: I'm going to get some cake."

Kurama started after Yusuke and Koenma followed him, leaving only Hiei and Kuwabara in the room. Hiei turned to the human, trying to keep the disgust from his face as thoughts of the lumbering fool taking his sister for a wife rose unbidden in his mind.

"You better not mess this up, Hiei," he said.

Hiei snorted in amusement.

"I was just about to say the same thing to you, Kuwabara," he said.

"Shizuru was right about you," Kuwabara grumbled as he turned from Hiei. "You really are a deadbeat."

Hiei had no idea what the term "deadbeat" meant, but it hardly sounded flattering. However, he had never cared for Kuwabara's opinions before, and even less so since he had married Yukina, and so he pushed the thought from his mind and followed the idiot from the room.

* * *

"There you are, Yusuke."

Yusuke turned to Keiko and let her hug him, taking a moment before returning her gesture. Despite everything he had witnessed in demon world and despite Hiei, Kurama and Koenma telling him it was the start of a dark time of strife and chaos, he was still more shocked by how much time had passed since his awakening as a demon and how much had changed in the living world. Holding her in his arms, Keiko even felt different. Her body felt harder and colder, though he was not sure why.

"Hey, happy birthday, by the way," he said awkwardly as they stepped out of each other's arms.

"Someone reminded you?" she asked with a knowing smile.

"I remember that you have a birthday every year, I just don't remember what day it is," he replied.

"You don't remember what day my birthday is or you don't remember what day this is?" she asked.

"What?"

"Never mind. What are you doing out here on your own?"

Yusuke turned to the wall he had been facing and pointed at the pictures on the wall. After Genkai's death, they had all discovered a part of her temple where she had stuck up pictures of the gang at various events or gatherings, and apparently others had been adding to the collage over the years, as there were three times as many pictures as Yusuke could remember there being before: and most of them were of times he had no memory of.

"So Kuwabara actually married Yukina?" he said, nodding at a photograph of the couple in traditional wedding dress.

"Yeah, he did," Keiko replied. "He proposed, she said yes, and they started planning it and it happened. All within the space of a year. Imagine that."

Yusuke glanced at Keiko, and, even though she was looking at Kuwabara's wedding photo, he could see the hint of facetiousness in her face that he had heard in her tone.

"To be fair Keiko, I proposed to you many times," he pointed out. "You just never said yes yet."

She smiled with only the vaguest hint of regret and Yusuke relaxed a little.

"It is weird that, of all of us, Kuwabara was the one who got married first," she admitted.

"So they've been married a while, huh?" he asked.

"Eleven years."

Yusuke's jaw dropped and his mind went blank.

"I know," Keiko said quietly. "Not only was he first one to get married, but he was so young too."

"Gees, eleven years?" Yusuke said. "So then… If we're thirty-one, then that means Kuwabara is thirty-one too, so if he's been married eleven years, that means he was twenty-three when he got married! Damn!"

Keiko sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Yusuke, I can't believe you're still so bad at math," she groaned. "Thirty-one minus eleven is twenty. He was twenty."

"That's worse!" Yusuke replied.

"What, that you can't subtract or that Kuwabara was only twenty and not twenty-three when he married Yukina?" Keiko asked.

"Both?"

Keiko smiled and shook her head. The gesture was one Yusuke had seen her perform so many times: she was acting frustrated with his attitude, but he knew that frustration was really only a small part of what she was feeling. She was always secretly more amused and fond of his goofiness than angered by it.

"Hey," he said, his voice lower and softer. "This Dark Age thing, it's a pretty big deal."

"I know that, Yusuke," she replied.

"Yeah, well, I'd feel a lot better about it if I knew you were somewhere safe," he added.

"Koenma said something about that too," she said.

Yusuke was a little surprised by her words, but at the same time, he was relieved to know that somebody else was thinking about her safety.

"So the little rugrat's gotta plan?" he asked.

"I think so," she replied. "He said he would explain it later. He said we should just enjoy tonight."

"Let's go find him and make him explain it now."

Keiko nodded and together they started down the hall together. As they walked, Yusuke was sure he heard the sound of someone retching nearby, and he turned to Keiko to ask her if she had heard it too: but before he could ask the question a door opened up ahead of him and, on instinct, he turned towards it, watching in vague interest as a girl in a plain silk kimono stepped out into the hallway. When Keiko slowed to a halt, he copied her action, glancing at her before returning his attention back to the girl ahead of them.

"Hi," Keiko said faintly.

Yusuke frowned, finding something odd about both the look on Keiko's face and the tone of her stilted greeting: but when he looked at the girl again, he noticed she was holding an oar. He made to introduce himself to her, but stopped short again when Koenma suddenly entered the hall from another doorway and yelped and slapped a hand against his chest.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded, staring across the hall at the apparent ferry girl.

She tilted her head slightly as she regarded him before holding up the oar in her hand as though its presence there explained hers.

"Shouldn't you be…?"

Koenma looked over at Yusuke just long enough that the moment started to feel awkward before turning back to the ferry girl.

"Shouldn't you be working right now?" he asked her. "I don't remember saying you could have the night off."

"I'm not taking the night off, Sir," she flatly replied.

"You're wearing flowers in your hair."

Koenma looked angry, as though a ferry girl wearing flowers in her hair was somehow an insult to his honour, though Yusuke had no idea why he would feel that way.

"Oh there you are," Botan said, stumbling out of the room the other ferry girl had just emerged from.

She reached for the oar in her colleague's hand, but the smaller girl moved her arm out to her side just far enough to move the oar out of Botan's reach.

"Was this your idea, Botan?" Koenma demanded.

"I don't know what you mean, Sir," Botan replied, trying, and failing, to retrieve the oar from her friend again.

"I didn't say this party was an excuse for everybody to take night off from their duties," he sternly replied.

"Hey, come on Junior," Yusuke interrupted. "You were the one who said we should enjoy tonight. If Botan's friend wants to join the party, let her stay."

"Stay out of this!" Koenma and Botan both snapped at him.

"Whoa, hey!" Yusuke protested.

"It's fine," the other ferry girl said with a small sigh. "Let's go."

"Alright then," Botan agreed. "Give me the oar."

"You're too drunk to fly," the ferry girl replied.

"Don't talk to me in that tone of voice!" Botan snapped back at her.

"You just threw up the rice you had for lunch. I really don't think you're fit to fly us anywhere."

"Stop being insolent!"

Botan snatched the oar from her partner and sat down onto it.

"Sit down!" she ordered.

"Fine, but if we fall, you're on your own," the girl casually replied as she sat down at Botan's side.

"And don't pout at me," Botan added.

Yusuke watched as Botan and her friend floated down the hallway unevenly before eventually disappearing around a corner out of sight.

"What the hell was that about?" he asked, turning to Koenma.

Koenma, who was still standing watching the point where Botan and her friend had disappeared, gave an answer that left Yusuke feeling even more confused than before.

"That's the apple that fell and landed right in front of the tree."

"What?" Yusuke echoed.

"That was Botan's apprentice," Keiko explained. "Botan's training her to be a ferry girl."

"Right," Koenma said, turning to face Yusuke. "Botan's training up another ferry girl to replace her."

"To replace her?" Yusuke asked. "To replace Botan? Where's Botan going that she needs to be replaced?"

"Did I say replaced?" Koenma asked.

"Yes, you did," Keiko replied.

"I meant to say assist," Koenma said. "Botan is training another ferry girl to assist her."

"Because we're gonna need a lot more ferry girls because there's gonna be a lot more deaths because of this Dark Age?" Yusuke pressed.

Koenma's shoulders drooped slightly and then he nodded solemnly.

"I suppose that is what I was trying to say," he reluctantly agreed. "In a diplomatic way."

Yusuke nodded slowly.

"I'm gonna get some cake," he said.

"Didn't you already get cake?" Koenma asked.

"Hey, like you said, this might be the last time we get to have cake," Yusuke replied. "I'm stockpiling."

Koenma smiled and together they walked on.

* * *

Kurama could not help but notice that something was amiss. He had never paid especially close attention to the photos of his friends that adorned the wall of one of the hallways of Genkai's temple before, but he found himself strangely drawn to them that night. Looking at them as a whole he could not help but feel as though something – or perhaps more specifically, someone – was missing: but, despite several minutes of close study, he could not figure out why he felt that way, since all nine of the usual faces were present. He had wondered if it was just that Genkai herself was not in any of the photos, but as she had never been in any of the photos before, her lack of presence did not explain why there seemed to be a gap. There were so many pictures displayed, many more than there had been when the collection had been started, but that only made it feel more awkward and more obvious that something was amiss.

He started to think that maybe there had been something missing for a while, but that night it seemed more pronounced because of the reason for the gathering and because, despite having laid awake at nights for weeks on end, he could not seem to tie together the timing of the early dawning of the Dark Age with its apparent root causes.

If Yusuke's Demon World Tournament had created the necessary strength in demon world to support the Dark Force's uprising and Yusuke himself represented the strength that would oppose the Dark Force and fend off the next Dark Age, why had the next Dark Age not dawned immediately or soon after the first Demon World Tournament: why had it taken a further eleven years for it to start showing indications of it coming early? Something key must have happened on one of the two sides four years ago to cause the Dark Force to awaken, but Kurama had no knowledge of Yusuke's power having spiked around that time at all nor of the elite in demon world having increased massively in number around that time: after all, four years ago was a time between Demon World Tournaments.

Kurama started to think that what seemed like something missing from a photograph was in fact something missing from Koenma's logic, and so he started off to find Koenma with the intent of asking the prince of spirit world exactly what had triggered the awakening of the Dark Force four years previously. He shortly found Koenma in the living room, where he appeared to be competing with Yusuke to eat the most birthday cake in one sitting.

"Koenma, I have a question," Kurama said as he approached them both.

"Kurama, I'm glad you're here," Koenma greeted him through a mouthful of pink buttercream. "As part of our preparations, we're forming a small team here at Genkai's temple. Now, I don't expect the worst to happen, but just in case it does, we need a safe house we can gather in and take the wounded to – a sort of field hospital and shelter. We've chosen this place, for obvious reasons, and I've added the caveat that everyone can nominate one person from the living world to house here. We can't practically allow for any more, unfortunately. Kuwabara has chosen his sister, Yusuke has chosen Keiko, should I assume you will choose your mother?"

Kurama frowned as he watched Koenma gulp down the contents of his mouth and then commence sucking and licking any excess food from his fingers.

"Kuwabara has chosen his sister?" he repeated.

"M-hm," Koenma replied as he diligently continued cleaning his hands.

"Not Yukina?" Kurama asked.

"I've put Yukina in charge of healing here," Koenma explained. "She was already designated a place here. I'm allowing for four more."

"I see. Well then yes, I will find a way to get my mother up here when the time comes."

Koenma nodded.

"What about Hiei?" Yusuke asked through a mouthful of food.

"I can't imagine there is anyone Hiei would want to save," Kurama plainly replied. "As Yukina is already designated a space here, the only person who Hiei would wish to protect will already be here."

"So there's a free spot?" Yusuke asked, turning to Koenma.

"I didn't say that, Yusuke," Koenma replied.

"You said you were allowing for four more," Yusuke pointed out. "Right Kurama? He said that, you heard that, right?"

Kurama could not help but notice the hint of desperation in Yusuke's tone, and he realised then that what lay ahead of them all would be troubled in so many ways.

"Excuse me," he said to them both. "I need to talk to Kuwabara: he promised me he would introduce me to his three students."

"Kuwabara has students?" Yusuke asked.

"Yes," Koenma replied. "Maybe you'd like to go meet them too?"

"Quit changing the subject," Yusuke snapped. "Who gets Hiei's spot?"

"Hiei might want to save someone," Koenma pointed out.

"Like who? Apart from Yukina and those of us who are gonna be fighting, there's nobody Hiei gives a damn about!"

Kurama started to quietly make his exit.

"You don't know that, Yusuke," he heard Koenma say as he left the room. "Hiei might surprise you."

* * *

Hiei knew that the latest Dark Age would not reach stage two: he knew that he and his allies could easily thwart whatever faced them in demon world, and there was no risk of demon world falling. Which, he thought darkly as he watched a swirling streak of red and blue plummet towards him, was just as well, since the other two worlds – the living world and more especially spirit world – did not have such worthy defenders.

The ferry girl impaled the handle of her oar into the lawn and slid to the grass as Hiei watched her from his position sitting on the roof of the temple. She picked herself up, wiped herself down, tried to smooth her already quite ruffled hair, and then yanked her oar out of the ground only to mount it and take to the air again, despite her clear inability to fly. And, much to his chagrin, she then landed on the roof a short way ahead and to one side of him. She banished her oar and staggered over to him, kneeling down by his legs, facing him with a look on her face that he knew could only mean something unpleasant was sure to follow.

"Hiei, we really need to talk," she said. "I-I've been trying to get a moment alone with you for the longest time now, but… I just haven't been able to…"

"Save your breath, woman," he said with a sigh. "I already know why you've come to me tonight."

"You-you do?" she asked. "Oh, silly me, of course you do! How could you not? You've seen with your jagan eye, you've felt how it really is."

"Yes, I've felt it," Hiei flatly replied.

She nodded and watched him expectantly.

"My feelings are unchanged from the last time we spoke about this subject," he assured her.

"But…" she began faintly. "That's not…"

"What do you want me to say?" he snapped irritably. "I don't know what you think, I don't understand why you place so much importance on it: it doesn't mean anything to me. Does it mean something to you?"

A single tear slipped from one of her eyes and she brought up one fist to her parted lips.

"How can you say that?" she asked, looking genuinely horrified by his words. "How can you speak so coldly about our…?"

"Our what?" he asked. "It was a mistake. It was just something I did because I was bored. I don't know why you can't just forget about it and let it go. Did you think that the potential end of the world would change my feelings? Hn, well now that you can see it has not, will you stop pestering me on this matter?"

"Hiei, I don't expect anything of you, I just need you to understand," she said.

"I understand all that I need to," he said. "You have mistaken a gesture I made to mean something more than it did, and inside your foolish little head, you've convinced yourself that you are in love with me. I'm trying to tell you now what I told you the last time you approached me about exactly this: you're wasting your time. Stay away from me."

Hiei stood up, feeling sure that he had made himself clear enough that the conversation ought to be over.

"We don't have much time left, and you're not listening to me!" she said, scrambling to her feet.

She was starting to sound hysterical – which was exactly how she had gotten during the second Demon World Tournament, as he recalled – and so he started to walk down the roof, hoping that if he ignored her, she might give up.

"I can't let this go any further until you understand what you did!" she said.

"And I already told you, I understand perfectly," he replied without turning around or stopping. "I foolishly gave you my attention and you misinterpreted it as a sign of my affection. You need to let go of it."

"Stop saying "it"!"

Hiei growled and rolled his eyes before jumping off the roof and starting back inside the temple. He did not especially want to go back to Kuwabara being disrespectful towards him and seeing the wedding ring on his sister's finger that had been put there by the lumbering human fool, but all of that seemed far easier to deal with than remaining outside to explain to a foolish ferry girl just how delusional she was, and so he carried on indoors.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** Yusuke is in for a series of shocks when he meets Kuwabara's three students. He loses a little faith in the efforts to push back the Dark Age, but he feels a little better when Kurama tells him some good news. **Chapter 3 – In Good Hands**

**A/N:** Thanks to everyone who reviewed, hope you can continue to enjoy (and stick with) this (incredibly) long and (crazily) complex story!


	3. In Good Hands

**Chapter 3 – In Good Hands**

Yusuke sat up and stretched his arms above his head before blinking blearily as he gazed about himself.

"Tea?"

Yusuke cried out involuntarily at the sudden closeness of the voice at his side.

"Oh I'm sorry Yusuke," Yukina said, smiling gently as he turned to her. "I didn't mean to startle you."

Yusuke looked about the room at the rolled up futons around him.

"Everyone else is up already," Yukina explained. "They didn't want to wake you."

"Where is everybody?" Yusuke asked her as she started pouring him a bowl of tea.

"Kazuma and Kurama have gone to meet with Kazuma's students, Keiko and Shizuru have gone back home – they had to go to work – Botan and Koenma have gone back to spirit world and I think Hiei is still outside somewhere."

Yusuke nodded, accepting the bowl of tea from her.

"Right," he said, before taking a brief sip of tea. "So Kuwabara and Kurama is two, Keiko and Shizuru is four, Botan and Koenma is six, Hiei is seven, you're eight and I'm nine. That still leaves one more. Who's missing?"

Yukina tilted her head to one side, looking genuinely confused.

"Because there's ten of us, right?" Yusuke asked.

Yukina smiled gently and gathered up the tray of tea, rising to her feet with it.

"Yusuke, you're really not very good at math," she said.

"Hey!" Yusuke protested.

She made a small humming noise as though amused by his outraged response before turning on her heels and walking from the room. Yusuke shook off his irritation and rose to his feet, finishing his tea and conveniently finding himself still dressed in the clothes he had been wearing the day before. He moved to the main door, pulled on his shoes and coat and stumbled outside, only stopping when a shadow dropped off the roof and landing at the foot of the porch ahead of him.

"Kinda thought you'd have gone back to demon world by now, Hiei," he commented.

"And miss out on all the fun?" Hiei sarcastically replied. "Get your bird. We need to find Koenma to make sure he understands the importance of looking after his own kind."

"Actually, I was thinking I was gonna go find Kuwabara," Yusuke said. "Apparently he's got three students."

"Students?" Hiei echoed. "What is he teaching them? How to be as socially awkward as possible?"

Yusuke narrowed his eyes slightly as he noticed the genuine bitterness in Hiei's tone and the tense edginess in his expression.

"So did you know he married Yukina like eleven years ago?" Yusuke asked.

"I had heard as much," Hiei replied.

"Stalking with your forehead eye again?" Yusuke said.

"Kurama told me."

"Oh. Kinda funny though, right?"

Hiei turned sharply to fully face Yusuke.

"I'm glad that you find it amusing," he growled out. "But how would you feel if Kuwabara married your sister?"

"I don't have a sister," Yusuke said with a casual shrug of his shoulders. "And I can think of worse things. Kuwabara does really care about Yukina, and he does seem to make her really happy."

"Let me rephrase that: how would you feel if Kuwabara married Keiko?"

"What?"

"Yes, there you go. Not so funny now, is it?"

"That's not the same thing!"

"It might as well be."

"And besides, I never said it was funny like it makes me wanna laugh, I said it was funny like it was unusual."

"The only unusual thing about it is that she accepted him and that I have let him live. Get your bird."

"I can see you're gonna be a barrel of laughs on the flight over…"

* * *

"Okay Kurama, this guy right here is Kaisei Sato."

Kurama bowed his head at the boy Kuwabara had indicated.

"And this is his sister, Fubuki Sato," Kuwabara added.

Kurama bowed his head again.

"Both human," he concluded.

"Well yeah!" Kaisei said with a smile.

"Did you think we looked like demons?" Fubuki asked.

"And the two of you have been training with Kuwabara for how long?" Kurama asked.

"Three years," they replied in unison.

Kurama nodded and then turned to Kuwabara expectantly. He found him smiling in an almost proud manner, which seemed inappropriate under the circumstances.

"So these are two of your three students?" Kurama pressed.

"Yeah," Kuwabara replied.

"How did you come by them?" Kurama asked, glancing back and forth between the two faces that seemed far too eager, as though they were completely unaware of what a Dark Age actually meant.

"Koenma introduced me to them," Kuwabara explained. "He asked me to train them. I wasn't sure at first either Kurama, but they're pretty tough, and they've come a long way since they started training with me."

"Is that your way of calling yourself a great teacher, Kuwabara?" Kaisei asked with a smirk.

"Sounds like he's complimenting us, but really he's just stroking his own ego!" Fubuki added.

"And where is your third student?" Kurama asked.

"He's on guard," Kaisei answered before Kuwabara could speak. "We all take turns keeping guard. When we're training, we give off quite a lot of energy, and lately, it's been attracting some pretty colourful characters."

"Seems like the Dark Force is sending its cannon fodder to our world already," Fubuki added. "And they all get drawn to us because of how powerful we are."

"They don't last long," Kaisei said.

"Least of all if they're dumb enough to take on me and my brother at the same time," Fubuki finished.

"You're both very confident," Kurama commented.

"We're not cocky," Kaisei said, his grin finally faltering.

"It's not bragging when you can back it up," Fubuki said, her smirk unfaltering.

"Let's see about that, shall we?" Kurama asked.

"Alright!" Kaisei said, his smile returning. "I've been wanting to go one-on-one with the famous fox demon for years!"

"Sure," Fubuki said. "But not before me."

"You should let me go first, so I can soften him up for you, sis!" Kaisei said.

"You mean I should soften him up for you," Fubuki replied.

"Both of you come at me at the same time," Kurama calmly suggested.

They both scoffed, but Kuwabara quietly moved out of the way.

"I'm serious," Kurama warned them. "Maybe you are incredibly powerful, but even the most powerful warrior can be blinded by arrogance. I'll fight you both at the same time. Right now."

Kurama moved to the centre of the room and then turned to Kuwabara's students expectantly.

"You better not embarrass me!" Kuwabara warned them as they started towards Kurama.

Kurama remained still, watching the two humans carefully. If something had seemed amiss the day before when he had been considering the timeframe of the early onslaught of the Dark Age, something else now seemed amiss with Kuwabara's students: the Kuwabara Kurama knew had always been opposed to fighting women or seeing women fight, and yet one of his three students was an attractive young woman. He wondered when and how it was that Kuwabara had changed one of his so deeply ingrained beliefs so drastically; but he did not wonder for long as the girl in question launched herself at him and her brother shot out of sight.

Apparently they worked well as a team.

* * *

"Puu, you better not embarrass me!" Yusuke warned his spirit beast.

Puu purred forlornly and Hiei groaned, kicking at a stone on the forest floor.

"Your bird has finally become as insensible as you are, Yusuke," the emiko groaned.

"Hey, if Puu took us here, then this is where Kuwabara is!" Yusuke replied.

Hiei turned to Yusuke to tell him that he was mistaken, but he stopped short as he became aware of a presence in the trees; and by the look on Yusuke's face, the mazoku had felt it too.

"Looks like we got company," Yusuke said with a smile.

"Show yourself!" Hiei roared, unsheathing his sword and glaring up in the direction he was sure he had seen a flicker of movement.

A flock of birds took to the air from the point he was watching, but he otherwise saw no other sign of movement.

"I didn't think any demons had crossed over to the living world," Yusuke commented. "How did this bastard get past your patrol, Hiei?"

Hiei turned to glare at Yusuke through narrowed eyes.

"You need to start giving the gravity of this situation the respect it deserves!" he snapped. "First of all, the border patrol fell into chaos months ago, and second of all, this bastard isn't a demon!"

Hiei spun around and slashed his sword through the air in a diagonal motion that was certain to eviscerate the sneaky creature that had just tried to jump on his back. His sword hit a body of black cloth, but by the lack of solidity to the impact he could tell he had missed his target. As his arm reached his side he looked down, finding an empty black cloak lying at his feet.

"Hey!" Yusuke yelped suddenly.

Hiei turned abruptly as Yusuke thrust a fist into the air, narrowly missing hitting their attacker square in the face.

"Fast little pest…" Yusuke muttered.

Hiei lunged forwards with his sword, using the moment their attacker was distracted to skewer him with his blade: but Hiei found himself gasping in a rare show of surprise as a hand grabbed the blade of his sword by the hilt, and a pair of feet landed silently on the flat of the blade. It was about the most mocking thing someone could do, and Hiei was well aware of that – mostly because he had used the exact same move against enemies in the past to show them how horribly outmatched they were in terms of speed and reflexes – and it was something nobody had ever been fast enough to do to Hiei before. It was also a gamble and an ideal opportunity for Hiei to grab his attacker by the throat: but he stopped short when the fast little monster finally came into focus. Crouched on his sword and weighing little more than a sack of potatoes was a lithe figure dressed in the black garb of a ninja. He was literally covered in black clothing, only his eyes showing; and it was his eyes that had caught Hiei's attention.

In a moment that surely only lasted two seconds and yet felt one hundred times as long, Hiei stared dumbly into what appeared to be his own eyes, which were staring back at him with an intensity unbefitting a human of such diminutive stature facing off against two S-class demons.

The moment ended when Yusuke punched the attacker in the back of the head, knocking him off Hiei's sword and sending him flying into a nearby tree. Quickly regaining his senses, Hiei launched himself at the fallen ninja, who had landed facedown on the ground. Hiei pushed one knee into the small of his attacker's back and brought the sharpest edge of his sword to the back of the little troublemaker's throat.

"Where the hell did you come from?" he demanded.

The ninja turned his head as much as he could without lifting it, his red eyes looking back up and over his shoulder at Hiei.

"Are you going to kill me?" he asked.

"We might if you don't tell us who the hell you are!" Yusuke added as he walked over to join them.

"Hey!"

Hiei paused at the sound of the voice screaming behind him.

"Stop!"

Hiei looked up at Yusuke, finding him already looking back in the direction the desperate voice was shouting from.

"Stop it!" Kuwabara cried out. "Stop fighting!"

Yusuke turned to Hiei.

"Looks like this little brat is a friend of Kuwabara's," he commented.

Hiei growled and reluctantly stood up, stepping back from the ninja; but he kept a tight hold of his sword just in case. He watched as Kuwabara, too breathless for the short distance he had just run, stumbled past him, pale-faced and panicked, and then dropped to his knees beside the little pest.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," the ninja replied, pushing himself up and then leaping to his feet with a small groan as though he was anything but fine.

Kuwabara stood up beside him and reached out a hand towards him, but he recoiled away from him.

"You didn't have to come running out here like that," the ninja said sternly. "I was handling this just fine."

"You were eating dirt and Hiei was just about to take your head off, you cocky little bastard!" Yusuke pointed out.

"I was handling it," the ninja insisted.

"What the hell were you doing?" Kuwabara asked.

"Yeah kid, what's your problem?" Yusuke added.

"I was talking to you, Urameshi!" Kuwabara snapped. "And you, Hiei!"

"What?" Hiei echoed.

"This little pissant jumped us!" Yusuke said.

"I was on guard, and you entered our territory," the ninja replied. "I was just doing my duty."

"Yeah, that's right!" Kuwabara agreed.

"Say what?" Yusuke muttered, glowering at Kuwabara disapprovingly.

Kuwabara faltered slightly, glancing back and forth between the little pest and Yusuke, before finally regaining a look of focus.

"Guys, this is Akira," he said.

"So this little brat is something to do with you, Kuwabara?" Yusuke asked.

"Akira's one of my students," Kuwabara replied.

"God damnit!" Yusuke cursed loudly.

"What's your problem?" Kuwabara asked.

"This is one of your students?" Yusuke asked, pointing at Akira. "This?"

"Yeah?" Kuwabara replied.

"This is one of your students? This ten year old kid dressed like something out of a bad ninja movie from the seventies is one of your students?"

"Hey, I bought that outfit, Urameshi!"

"Okay… Where are your other students?"

"They're inside. Kurama's sparring with them."

"Okay. Are they at least old enough to buy cigarettes?"

"Well, don't you know already? I kinda thought you did. My other two students are old friends of yours, Urameshi."

Yusuke looked even more confused that Hiei was, which was something of a relief for the emiko.

"My other students are Kaisei and Fubuki Sato," Kuwabara added. "You remember them right? They sure remember you."

"Sato?" Yusuke echoed.

"Yeah," Kuwabara said. "Their mom is Kuroko Sato. She was the first spirit detective. They said they'd met you before."

"Aw hell no!" Yusuke groaned.

"What's going on?" Hiei demanded.

"Koenma has pulled one of his typical strategies, Hiei," Yusuke sarcastically replied. "The world is about to end, so he's hired three kids to help protect the living world."

Hiei glanced at Akira, who was remaining suspiciously quiet, and was slight enough of build to easily be the ten year old human child Yusuke had implied he might be.

"Kuroko Sato's kids are like seven years old!" Yusuke added.

"Hn, we better make sure the Dark Force doesn't leave demon world then," Hiei said. "I knew it would be this way. I knew the spirit and human worlds would be completely incapable of defending themselves."

"You guys are way off," Kuwabara argued. "Yusuke, you met Kaisei and Fubuki years ago. They're older and a lot stronger now."

"Okay, I'll give you that," Yusuke said, folding his arms over his chest. "The last time I saw them – well, the only time I saw them – they were pretty skilled fighters, but they were just kids."

"They were eight and nine years old back then," Kuwabara offered. "And that was before you moved to demon world."

"Right," Yusuke agreed. "And I moved to demon world years ago. So they're like what, fifteen now?"

"Yusuke, you really are terrible at math," Kuwabara grumbled.

"You moved to demon world sixteen years ago," Hiei offered.

"What's sixteen plus nine?" Yusuke asked.

"Twenty-five," Kuwabara replied. "Kaisei is twenty-five now and Fubuki is twenty-four. And they've been fighting demons since they could walk. And so has Akira. They're not kids, and they're not weak."

Hiei felt uninspired by Kuwabara's defence of his "students", and another glance at Akira did little to boost his confidence.

"What's Koenma's plans for these kids?" he asked, turning to Kuwabara.

"We're the defenders of the living world," Kuwabara replied, without a hint of facetiousness.

"You mean Koenma expects us to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with these little brats when we're facing the "Dark Force"?" Yusuke asked.

"No, you guys are going back to demon world, aren't you?" Kuwabara responded.

Yusuke glanced at Hiei before shaking his head at Kuwabara.

"Did I miss a meeting?" he asked.

"Yeah, you did," Kuwabara replied.

Yusuke's eyes almost popped out of his head and Hiei distinctly heard Akira make a snort of amusement.

"Where's Kurama?" Hiei asked, hoping to bring some focus back to the discussion.

"Sparring with the other two kids," Yusuke replied. "I got that part, at least."

"Let's go, Yusuke," Hiei said to him.

Yusuke looked first at Kuwabara and then Akira, before nodding at Hiei.

"Yeah, let's go," he agreed.

Hiei started towards the old house he could just make out ahead of them. It was one of the traditional old houses he had sometimes encountered in the living world, though most were in more obvious locations and better maintained. As he walked, Yusuke walked at his side, and Kuwabara started after them, but shortly stopped.

"Aren't you coming with us?" Hiei heard Kuwabara say.

"I'm supposed to be on guard, remember?" Akira answered him.

"I think you should come inside for this," Kuwabara replied.

A moment later, Hiei felt Kuwabara start moving behind him again, this time accompanied by his irksome little apprentice. If Koenma really was expecting three human children to be fit to defend the living world from the powers of the Dark Force after just a few short years of training under Kuwabara then the prince was an even bigger idiot than Hiei had given him credit for and his only relief was that when he did return to demon world, he would have Yusuke and Kurama at his side, and together the three of them could easily push the Dark Force back long before it took over demon world.

Hiei stopped walking when he realised that Yusuke had stopped, and he turned to his friend expectantly, finding him looking at something up ahead of him with a look of disbelief on his face. As they stood there, Kuwabara caught up to them and Yusuke turned to him.

"Don't tell me," he said sarcastically. "I should have visited more often, right?"

"You didn't believe me when I said they were adults, huh?" Kuwabara responded.

Hiei turned to look in the direction Yusuke was, and he found Kurama approaching, flanked by two unusually tall humans – one male, one female – who, despite looking a little ruffled, were walking confidently and gave the distinct impression that there was more to them than met the eye.

"So Kurama, what did you think?" Kuwabara asked as Kurama stopped in front of them.

"He was impressed," the male human answered before Kurama could.

"Of course!" the female human added.

"Your students' abilities and power surpassed my expectations," Kurama said. "Their confidence is not entirely misplaced: they could easily handle the first, second and even the third wave of demons that may move into the living world in the coming weeks and months."

The two humans smiled smugly at each other.

"Has your mom been keeping you both in grow bags since I last saw you?" Yusuke asked.

The female laughed and the male shook his head.

"It's been a long time, Yusuke Urameshi," he said.

"Honestly, I'm surprised your mom let you train for this," Yusuke replied. "The last time I spoke to her I got the impression she didn't really care about spirit world's problems."

"But she does care about problems that could affect the living world," the girl said.

"I guess…"

Yusuke looked over at Hiei then, a look of realisation appearing on his face.

"Hiei, this is Kaisei and Fubuki Sato," he offered.

Hiei turned to the two humans, who were grinning obnoxiously at him.

"This is Hiei," Yusuke told them.

"Looking forward to working with you, Hiei!" Kaisei said cheerfully.

"Second that!" Fubuki added.

"Oh hey Kurama?" Kuwabara said, drawing the fox demon's attention in his direction. "This is my other student, Akira."

Kurama moved his eyes to Kuwabara's side, where Akira stepped forwards, coming into Hiei's line of sight.

"It's an honour to finally make your acquaintance, Kurama," Akira said, bowing stiffly to Kurama.

"Yes," Kurama replied, a vaguely suspicious look appearing on his face as he eyed Akira over.

"So you think Kaisei and Fubuki are pretty tough?" Yusuke asked Kurama.

"They are arguably the best warriors Koenma could have found in the living world to aid us," Kurama replied.

"Akira's not so strong, but he's really fast and really sneaky," Yusuke commented.

"Yeah, that's Akira alright!" Kaisei said.

"Fast and sneaky," Fubuki repeated. "He's a real ninja."

"He's like our team scout," Kaisei added. "He's goes ahead and scopes things out. Kuwabara is the muscle."

"And we're all-rounders," Fubuki said, indicating herself and her brother with a wiggle of her thumb.

"I see neither of you are any less cocky than you were ten years ago," Yusuke commented.

"Sixteen years ago," Kaisei corrected him.

"And like I already said, we can back it up," Fubuki insisted.

"Oh yeah?" Yusuke asked, cocking an amused smirk.

"Give us another chance and we'll show you how much stronger we are," Kaisei said.

Yusuke's smirk widened.

"Now you're speaking my language," he said.

"This is a bad idea, you guys," Kuwabara said. "We shouldn't waste time."

"Relax, Kuwabara," Yusuke said. "I got five minutes to spare. And didn't Koenma say we were supposed to be having fun while we still can?"

"I said have fun yesterday, at Keiko's birthday party. I didn't say spend today competing to see which of you has the biggest ego."

Hiei groaned as Koenma joined their group, after having appeared from seemingly nowhere.

"Let's go inside," the prince suggested. "Now that we're all together, I can reveal the rest of my plans."

"That sounds like fun too," Yusuke said, starting towards the old house.

"It's not, trust me, Yusuke," Koenma replied, falling into step at his side.

"Sure it is," Yusuke said. "I'm really gonna enjoy listening to you tell us how a bunch of kids are gonna protect the living world."

"Hey, we're not kids any more!" Kaisei complained. "Didn't we already clear that part up?"

"Maybe Yusuke just thinks we're kids because he's getting so old!" Fubuki joked.

Hiei watched the brother and sister duo follow after Koenma and Yusuke, jostling with each other like a pair of school kids as they went. Kuwabara and Akira followed behind them, but Kurama was waiting back with Hiei.

"Be honest now Kurama," Hiei said, moving his eyes to his old friend. "How capable are those idiots?"

"I can confidently say they could best up to C-class demons single-handedly and with little effort," Kurama replied. "Combining their efforts and with a little bit of work, they could best a B-class demon. Anything above that and they don't stand a chance. Also, if I were a betting man, I wouldn't wager any money on them against the might of a controlled – or worse, a consumed – B-class or even C-class demon."

"Hn, that's what I thought," Hiei said. "Koenma doesn't know because he's never experienced a Dark Age and Yusuke doesn't know because he never thinks about anything or studies his history, but they'll understand it all soon enough: the enemies we will face will fall well outside of spirit world's convenient little system for ranking power levels."

Kurama nodded solemnly.

"We should go inside and find out what Koenma has planned," he added.

Together, Hiei and Kurama started after the others towards the old house.

* * *

Yusuke remained standing as the others sat on the floor or else on upturned bits of wreckage inside the old house. He was unsure who had chosen the old house as a training centre for Kuwabara and his students, but he thought that it was an appropriately creepy location to discuss the rising of an ancient evil: or to shoot a horror movie.

Looking around the others, Yusuke could not help but notice how cheerful and cocky Kuroko's kids were. They were very tall and clearly adults, but they were still acting like the little kids he had met so many years before. They had obviously never fought against an enemy like Toguro or Sensui and they had virtually no experience of a true demon. If the Dark Age did reach the stage where demons were moving into the living world, the pair of them – and that arrogant little brat Akira, who clearly was still just a kid – would be in for a massive shock. And Yusuke had too many people in the living world that he cared about to entrust its salvation to a trio of arrogant, inexperienced kids.

"Okay, now that we're all together, we can talk about how our armies will be formed," Koenma began.

"Why didn't you tell us this yesterday?" Hiei asked.

"Because yesterday was all about having fun, right?" Yusuke sarcastically replied.

"Not entirely," Koenma said. "I didn't tell you all yesterday because I didn't want to talk about it in front of the girls and because I wanted to wait until I had all seven of you together. Now even though the Dark Age is still in stage one, and still primarily just a problem for demon world, I'm sure it hasn't escaped anyone's notice that the influence of the uprising is starting to reach into the living world."

"The insects, right?" Yusuke asked.

"Exactly," Koenma agreed. "Which is why I want to make sure we have a team defending each of the three worlds."

Yusuke looked about the room before sitting down on the floor with a sigh.

"So how are you gonna divide up the seven of us?" he asked. "If you split us between the three worlds, there'll only be three fighters in each world."

"Thankfully I've given this matter much thought," Koenma tightly replied. "And thankfully I know that seven divided into three does not equal three… The SDF will be defending spirit world from any problems there, which means there is a team of nine fighters already protecting spirit world. Kuwabara will be leading the effort to protect the living world, and I'm leaving Kaisei, Fubuki, Akira and Kurama with him."

"Wait, what?" Yusuke echoed.

"Kurama belongs in demon world," Hiei said. "I agree that you would need him here if all you have left is Kuwabara and these three humans, but the situation in demon world is far worse than you realise – not that it surprises me that you've underestimated the problem – and unless you want the Dark Age to move into stage two and beyond, you cannot expect me and Yusuke to hold back the tide of chaos on our own!"

"Are you scared?"

Yusuke balked at Kaisei's question, feeling even more horrified when he saw that the boy was apparently serious, as he was watching Hiei expectant of a positive answer.

"I fear nothing," Hiei growled back at him. "But you should fear the threat that you will face if Koenma doesn't think this through a little more carefully."

"Before things erupt here, allow me to intercept," Kurama quickly said. "I have already taken measures to assemble help for Yusuke and Hiei in demon world. I have personally met with Jin, Touya, Chu, Shishiwakamaru, Suzuka and Rinku, and they have all agreed to join with us. I have arranged a meeting time and place for them to meet with you in demon world."

"Well that's a little more like it," Yusuke said with a smile.

"It still leaves the human world with scant protection," Hiei grumbled.

"Since when have you ever cared about the living world, Hiei?" Kuwabara asked him.

They glared at each other from opposite ends of the room, the moment only ending when Koenma stood up and they both turned their attention towards him.

"Another very important thing we need to discuss is exactly what the Dark Force is," he announced. "And why this bickering and bragging you're all indulging in is incredibly harmful."

"That's true," Kurama confirmed. "The Dark Force is the spirit of an ancient demon, who once ruled over demon world. Rumoured to have been far more powerful than any demon to have existed before or since, the Dark Force was eventually overcome when an army rose up against it and destroyed its mortal form."

"But not its spirit," Koenma continued. "The spirit of the ancient demon was supposed to have been trapped eternally in stone, but, every 650 years, there is a weakness in the force that binds it, and it is able to rise up again. And even in between Dark Ages, the Dark Force is far from inert: it is always aware of everything and everyone around it, hence why it can sometimes rise early."

"It's important that everybody here be aware that the Dark Force is not a who, but a what," Kurama said.

"Right, it's some kinda monster," Yusuke said.

"Wrong," Koenma said.

"Huh?" Yusuke echoed.

"It's just the soul of the deceased ancient demon," Kurama explained. "It has no physical form."

"Which is why it needs a high number of S-class and A-class demons in existence to support its uprising," Koenma added. "It needs a good selection of host bodies in order for it to take a physical form."

"Right," Kuwabara said. "It needs to possess a living being."

"Oh great," Yusuke groaned.

He hung his head and pushed his fingers through his hair. As if it was not bad enough that he was to blame for awakening the Dark Force – both because his Demon World Tournament had created so many strong demons to support the Dark Force and because he was the one opponent strong enough to fight against it – he was now also at risk of being possessed by the Dark Force. He lifted his head again and found all the others watching him curiously.

"Are you all stupid?" he snapped, glaring around them all. "Obviously it's gonna try to possess me, right?"

"Not necessarily," Koenma replied.

"But you just said it goes after the strong," Yusuke pointed out. "And I'm the strongest fighter out of your crappy SDF, Kuwabara and the kids, Kurama, Hiei and any of the guys you said would help us out in demon world!"

"That's true," Koenma said. "But–"

"Hn, how do you know you're stronger than me, Yusuke?" Hiei asked, smirking smugly to himself as he spoke. "It's been some time since you last tested your strength against mine."

"Come on Hiei, I can beat anyone in this room in a fight," Yusuke replied. "And I have beaten some people in this room in a fight already."

"That was a long time ago," Hiei replied, his smirk vanishing.

"You guys are blind."

Yusuke and Hiei both turned to Kuwabara, both temporarily stunned into silence by his interruption.

"Maybe neither of you are the strongest warrior on our side," he continued. "Did you ever think of that?"

"No, we didn't," Hiei flatly replied. "Because it's ridiculous."

"Yeah Kuwabara," Yusuke agreed. "I thought you'd got past talking like you could hold your own against an S-class demon. What gives?"

"Are any of you even listening to me?" Koenma roared.

"Don't mess you diapers Junior, we're listening," Yusuke replied.

Koenma, red-faced and teeth bared in anger, spun on his toes to face Yusuke directly.

"What did I just say?" he demanded. "I said no bickering and no bragging!"

"Sounds like you weren't even listening to yourself then," Yusuke said with a shrug. "You're the one bickering right now."

Koenma groaned and Yusuke grinned.

"Perhaps now is a good time to expand on that point, Koenma," Kurama calmly suggested. "You never actually explained to everyone why it's so important that we keep the bickering and the bragging to a minimum."

"Yeah he did," Yusuke said. "It's so the Dark Force won't know which of us is the strongest."

"No, you idiot!" Koenma growled through tightly clenched teeth. "That's not why! It's because the Dark Force feeds off of and gains strength from negative emotions! If the Dark Force senses that one of you has an enormous ego and an inability to take criticism, it will play on that and feed off of that individual's pride and anger and become so strong that we may never stop it!"

"Are you listening to this, Hiei?" Yusuke asked, looking over at Hiei.

"Yes, I am," Hiei replied, smirking darkly. "But don't worry Yusuke, I'll make sure the Dark Force doesn't possess your girlfriend and feed off your ego until the end of time."

"Yeah, it would take until the end of time," Yusuke shot back. "At least I'm big enough to keep the bastard fed until the end of time."

"Hn, the Dark Force wouldn't come after me anyway. I'm not so weak that I let my emotions show, far less allow some dead bastard to prey on them."

"Enough!"

The room fell silent as Koenma ruffled up his hair in frustration.

"The Dark Force will seek out strong individuals when it needs to fight," he said tensely once he had finished messing up his hair. "But when it needs to feed, it will go after the emotionally weak: which could mean anyone. And that is what makes the Dark Force so dangerous. It gets stronger after every victim it exploits, and there are plenty of emotionally weak individuals for it to feed on in this room alone, never mind out there in the human, the demon and even the spirit world."

"So this bastard gets stronger from the weak and then kills off the strong in battle, right?" Yusuke asked.

"Yes, Yusuke," Koenma replied. "That's exactly it in a nutshell. By our calculations, the Dark Force is still in the process of leaving its imprisonment, but it will be free in a matter of days, and when it is, it will start the process of getting stronger from the weak and killing off the strong in battle."

"How do we defeat it?" Fubuki asked.

"Good question," Koenma replied.

Yusuke sat forwards as he waited for Koenma to answer, something about the awkward look on his face doing little to ease Yusuke's concerns.

"We either overwhelm it and cast it back into its imprisonment, or we kill it," Kurama eventually said when Koenma remained silent. "In all previous Dark Ages, the Dark Force has been overcome and cast back into its imprisonment. Last time I believe it took the combined efforts of Raizen and Mukuro and their top warriors to achieve the feat."

"Wait, we can kill it?" Yusuke asked. "I thought it was already dead. Why has nobody killed it before?"

"Because it sustains itself by consuming a mortal body," Koenma replied. "It's most likely that, should you come face-to-face with the Dark Force, it will have already taken over the body of somebody you could never bring yourself to kill."

Hiei snorted and Koenma scowled at him.

"Don't think you're above this, Hiei," he warned. "None of you are. Right now, you could probably all think of someone you wouldn't want to kill, but that's not necessarily the person the Dark Force will consume. You might think that your worst case scenario is the Dark Force consuming your sister, Hiei."

Hiei grunted, his amused look turning instantly into an alarmed and angered one.

"But maybe the Dark Force will confront you in the body of someone who means even more to you than Yukina does," Koenma added quietly.

Hiei stood up abruptly, his chest visibly heaving from his suppressed fury. The moment seemed so surreal to Yusuke: he still could not quite accept that it was common knowledge that Hiei was Yukina's long lost brother, and hearing Koenma speak about it so openly in front of not only Hiei, but also Kuwabara and the three kids, only seemed all the more bizarre.

"And the same goes to everyone else in this room," Koenma continued, looking around the others. "Every single one of you needs to remember that: this enemy can, and most likely will, appear before you in a form you feel emotionally weak around. The Dark Force can take over a body in one of two ways: it can control the soul within the body, or it can consume the soul within the body. You should all know that once the Dark Force has consumed a soul, there is no going back."

"What do you mean by that?" Yusuke asked.

"I mean if the Dark Force controls Keiko's soul to get to you Yusuke, we can still save Keiko if we can banish or kill the Dark Force," Koenma replied. "But if it consumes Keiko's soul to get to you, the only release for her soul will be her death."

Yusuke's mind drained of everything except that one image of Keiko from the day before when he had first arrived at Genaki's temple and he had seen her standing in the kitchen pretending to smile. She had looked so vulnerable in that moment, so mortal: and suddenly that was the epitome of what she was.

"I hope that now you understand why I told you all to enjoy yourselves yesterday," Koenma added quietly.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** Koenma has one more shocking and depressing announcement to make, Kuwabara and Kurama set off to make preparations to guard the living world, Hiei returns to demon world to meet up with the other members of the demon world defenders and Yusuke stays in the living world just a little longer to say what may be his last goodbyes to some people. **Chapter 4 – Breaking the Habit**

**A/N:** All hints at future plot points in this story still lie in the numbers and Yusuke's inability to count. I'm driving this point because I'll be interested to see how quickly someone reading manages to count backwards around the numbers and figure out what's really going on.


	4. Breaking the Habit

**A/N: **So I added an extra scene into this chapter that I hadn't originally planned for, and it's sort of changed one aspect of the rest of the story. I was going to break the story after this chapter, and write only about Yusuke and Hiei's experiences in demon world (with the rest of their demon allies), and only return the story to the living world/spirit world when Yusuke and Hiei themselves left demon world again; but I sort of really got into the Kurama/Akira scene in this chapter and decided I'm going to run the storylines concurrently, showing what's happening in the living world at the same time as the initial battle in demon world. This will make the story longer (oh God no) but it will help me show how Kurama comes to the point Yusuke and Hiei find him at when they come back to the living world again.

The above was probably pointless, I guess I could have summed it up like this: I'm always afraid of giving too much screen time to OCs, but Akira is a pretty major character in this story, so Akira kinda needs the extra screen time.

* * *

**Chapter 4 – Breaking the Habit**

Yusuke looked horrified, but Kurama was still glad that Koenma was not holding anything back. It was important that everybody present understood the gravity of the situation, especially Yusuke, as he was obviously the one force strong enough to oppose the Dark Force and the one soul the Dark Force would ultimately come after by whatever means possible. The Dark Age was called the Dark Age because of the darkness it brought to all three worlds, but the darkest part of the times ahead would all revolve around just one individual, and as soon as the Dark Force was free from its imprisonment, it would be clear who it was after. What lay ahead of everyone in the room was a difficult time of stopping an awesome force from completely destroying the strongest of their allies: which, unfortunately for him, was Yusuke.

"And that's not all," Koenma said.

"Gees, there's more?" Yusuke wailed, his voice cracking in that way it did when he was shocked by something.

"I've received news this morning from demon world," Koenma continued, barely even blinking at Yusuke's outburst. "Enki has gone missing."

"The Dark Force has consumed the king of demon world already?" Kaisei asked.

"I don't think so," Koenma replied.

"Your confidence isn't very inspiring, Koenma," Fubuki commented sarcastically.

"It's highly unlikely the Dark Force is yet strong enough to control a demon of Enki's ranking, far less consume him," Koenma assured the others. "I don't know why he's disappeared, but as he has always been an easy leader to work with both inside and outside of demon world, I suggest the first thing the team assigned to demon world do is find Enki."

Hiei stood up and Koenma turned to him, looking mildly irritated by his actions.

"I've heard all I need to," Hiei said. "The more time I waste here, the further the situation will degenerate in demon world: and that is what we're trying to stop, right?"

Koenma sighed.

"Let's go, Yusuke," Hiei said, turning and starting to leave.

"Uh, yeah, you go on ahead Hiei, I'll catch up to you," Yusuke said, waving a dismissive hand in Hiei's direction.

Hiei grunted and glared at Yusuke, but Yusuke's attention was focused on Koenma. Sensing that another argument could erupt then, Kurama stood up, holding up a hand when Koenma swivelled around to look at him accusingly.

"I'll only be a moment, I promise," he assured Koenma as he started to leave the group. "Continue without me."

Kurama was unsure if Koenma would continue anything without him, since it had mostly taken prodding from Kurama to get Koenma to talk; but the fox demon continued regardless, holding out a hand towards the door as he reached Hiei's side. Hiei nodded and moved on ahead. They left the old house in silence, only stopping when they reached the slight clearing in the trees where Puu had landed earlier with Yusuke and Hiei, and where the spirit beast was still patiently waiting for his counterpart to return.

"I arranged for Jin and the others to meet you and Yusuke at noon today by the boundaries of Yomi's estate in Gandara," Kurama offered. "I'm not sure what Yusuke intends to do, but I suspect it will involve Keiko and I suspect it will make him late. You should go on ahead and meet with the others."

"This is stupid," Hiei flatly replied.

"You think I should be going to demon world with you and Yusuke?" Kurama asked.

"Yes, but that's not the only part that's stupid," Hiei replied.

"If I can ascertain that things will be safe here without me, I may yet join your efforts in demon world," Kurama said. "You have to understand Hiei that I didn't expect the next Dark Age to begin within my human mother's lifetime, and as it has, I cannot risk letting her suffer from it. Even if Koenma had not assigned me a place here as part of the living world defence team, I would have insisted upon it myself."

"I suppose it makes sense for you to stay here," Hiei begrudgingly admitted. "After all, Kuwabara is out of shape, and with only two arrogant human adults and one insolent human child at his disposal, the other members of the "living world defence team" are laughable at best."

Kurama paused, his delicate eyebrows drawing together into a frown.

"What are you talking about, Hiei?" he asked.

"I'm talking about Kuwabara and his three "students"," Hiei spat. "It's pathetic. Even I could have found three stronger and more agreeable humans to aid the cause."

"But… Hiei, surely you've noticed that Kuwabara's three students are no ordinary humans," Kurama said slowly.

"Kuwabara mentioned something about the two adults being the offspring of a previous spirit detective: but I really don't see how that makes them in any way qualified to hold back the tide of chaos heading their way when the Dark Force moves into the human world."

"Yes, Kaisei and Fubuki Sato are the offspring of a previous spirit detective, Kuroko Sato, and they are very strong. You are wrong to dismiss them so hastily, but you are right to assume that they are unfit to overcome the full extent of what may face them. However, they are not the only defenders of the living world: I will be here, as will Kuwabara and Akira."

"You I trust: but unfit Kuwabara and the child are almost as pathetic as the detective's kids."

"Hiei… Didn't you have a run-in with Akira when you arrived here?"

"The little brat tried to jump me and Yusuke. We easily threw him off. Where did Koenma even find such a child?"

"Demon world, I imagine."

Hiei visibly flinched, looking up at Kurama first with wide eyes of confused interest, before quickly narrowing his eyes over and grunting out a noise of disapproval.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.

"Well, I agree that Akira is a child, but he is at least a demon child," Kurama replied. "He appears to be suppressing his strength, so it's difficult to gauge how strong or capable he might be, but I'm hoping to spend some time with him – as I already briefly have with Kaisei and Fubuki – to figure out what his skills are."

"Hn, clearly you've been living here and in that human body for too long, fox," Hiei said sharply. "That kid is not a demon. I had this same conversation with Yusuke: that kid is human."

"No Hiei, Akira is clearly a demon," Kurama flatly replied. "I could sense his demon energy the moment I arrived in this forest. I thought he was an escaped demon, sent by the Dark Force: but I see now he is a demon Koenma has somehow managed to convince to work for us."

"That miserable little brat is a human, Kurama!" Hiei argued. "He's slow, he's weak and he's pathetic."

"He smells demon, he is giving off a demonic aura and he has red eyes, which is a very easily identifiable visual clue that he is not human."

Hiei paused, appearing to consider what Kurama had just told him.

"I wonder how Koenma came by such a demon," Kurama added. "I would say he could be a prisoner of spirit world, performing this duty as punishment for his crimes, but he seems too young for such a sentence."

"Why don't you stop talking in riddles and come to the point, Kurama?" Hiei said quietly. "Stop speculating and say what you're really thinking."

"I'm wondering whether it was you or Yusuke who put Koenma in touch with Akira," Kurama frankly replied. "Given Yusuke's indifference to the whole situation, I have to think it was you."

"Yes, it was me," Hiei sarcastically answered. "Because as I'm sure you well know, I like to keep company with inferior human children."

"Hiei, I have a genuine concern about that boy, and you may be the only individual who is objective enough to consider my viewpoint."

"I have a concern too. It involves the fact that Koenma has entrusted the fate of this world to that child, two ordinary humans and Kuwabara. You're going to have your hands so full babysitting, I have a genuine concern that you won't get much fighting done should the problem spill into this realm."

"Hiei, you're not listening to me."

"And you're not listening to me. It's lucky for you that Koenma at least had the foresight to put me and Yusuke in charge of things in demon world. You may never have to trust your life in the hands of those children."

"Hiei–"

"Goodbye Kurama."

Kurama sighed as Hiei darted off. He had hoped that Hiei would at least share his cautious objectivism towards Koenma's choice of recruits, but perhaps this was a matter he would have to solve on his own.

* * *

"Are we done here?" Yusuke asked, stretching his arms above his head. "I got some things I need to take care of before I go back to demon world."

"I thought I told you to wrap up any loose ends yesterday, Yusuke?" Koenma replied.

"No, you said have fun yesterday," Yusuke corrected him.

Koenma gave him a dark, critical look, but Yusuke ignored it, rising to his feet and nodding at Kuwabara.

"I'll check in here one more time before I go," he offered.

"I got things under control here, Urameshi," Kuwabara replied.

Yusuke glanced over Kaisei, Fubuki and Akira before returning his eyes to Kuwabara.

"I'll check in here before I go," he said again.

Kuwabara shrugged and Yusuke started to leave, ignoring the muttered complaints Koenma made behind him. As he exited the old house, Yusuke encountered Kurama on the porch, returning from following Hiei.

"Ah Yusuke, Hiei has already returned to demon world," Kurama greeted him.

"That's fine," Yusuke replied.

"I arranged for the others to meet you by Yomi's estate," Kurama added. "You remember where that is, right?"

"Of course!" Yusuke replied. "Don't worry about it."

"Good luck, and hopefully the next time we meet, things will not be so ominous," Kurama said.

"Oh, I got some things I gotta do in this world before I go back."

Kurama's face dropped in a rare outward expression of shock.

"Gees, you're as bad as Koenma!" Yusuke grumbled. "I won't take long."

"Well, do hurry," Kurama suggested.

"Fine, yeah!" Yusuke said, waving a hand dismissively.

He continued on towards Puu, who was reliably waiting for him where they had parted.

"Okay boy, you know where we're going, right?" he said as he hopped up onto Puu's shoulders.

Puu cried out cheerfully and spread his wings. As the spirit beast began to ascend, Yusuke wondered if it was laziness not to just run to where he needed to go: it was not so far, after all, and Puu would not even be able to take him exactly where he was headed, as he could not risk a giant blue bird being seen flying over the skies of Sarayashiki city. However, after a morning of listening to Koenma talk, some time alone in the sky was quiet a pleasant break, and so Yusuke continued with his plan, relaxing as best he could as Puu flew up high enough to be inconspicuous to anyone watching from the ground, aiming himself for one of the tallest buildings in the city, where he could safely land, unseen, on the rooftop. Conveniently, the building in question was on the same street as a bar Yusuke knew he would find his mother in.

Yusuke could not actually remember when he had last seen his mother. It was not that he did not care, it was just that his visits to her were rarely unique. Increasingly with time he found her at the bar, as though she almost lived there, and most of the time she was too caught up in a drinking game to notice his presence, only really taking notice when he made to leave, at which point she would inevitably get irrationally tearful and start saying absurd things.

Which seemed oddly familiar somehow.

Yusuke screwed up his face in thought as he tried to figure out why the behaviour patterns his mother had been displaying for so long suddenly seemed to have another significance in his mind, a connection to something else. Puu landed on the rooftop, but Yusuke lingered, cross-legged, on his spirit beast a few minutes longer as he tried to figure out where else he had seen a drunken woman making a fool of herself in a way that had left him feeling awkward and vaguely guilty. When he failed to find an answer, he shrugged and leapt from Puu's back, ruffled the black tuft on Puu's head affectionately and then shouldered his way through the exit door and down the stairwell of the building.

After moving through the building as quickly and quietly as he possibly could, Yusuke stepped out onto the street, once more noticing the demon insects loitering in the air – they had been strangely invisible from his vantage point aboard Puu, apparently only flying so high – and their presence reminded him that the situation facing him was not the same as when Sensui had been opening a passageway to demon world: whereas before the demon insects had been restricted to one city, this time the demon insects were everywhere. He supposed that potentially meant that demons could – and probably would – enter living world from anywhere, and he again grimaced at the thought of Koenma assigning three kids as protectors of the entire human race.

A short walk later, Yusuke entered the bar and, unsurprisingly, saw his mother sitting on a sofa at the far side of the room. She was laughing, though she was alone and she had her back turned to the television screen. Yusuke started towards her with a small sigh, and as he got closer, she finally spotted him, waving a hand to him cheerfully.

"Here he is!" she said, holding out her arms as he sat down beside her. "You know Yusuke, you're seriously gonna have to tell your mother what your secret is: because you still look so young, I'm not embarrassed to tell people I'm your mom!"

"It's nice to see you too, mom," Yusuke replied. "What've you been up to?"

"What have I been up to?" she asked. "Listen to you, asking your mother what's she's doing like you're not the one who's always disappearing all the time!"

"Yeah, sorry about that," Yusuke replied. "But I'm here now, right?"

"Pfft, yeah, but for how long this time?"

Yusuke gulped and forced a smile.

"Not long," he replied.

"Always the same with you," Atsuko moaned. "You missed my birthday again. You'll come back and see me on my next birthday though, right?"

"Sure," Yusuke lied.

"You remember when it is, don't you?" she asked.

"Um, sure?" he replied, grinning nervously and hoping that she would not ask him to name the date.

"It's my fortieth birthday next year, you know."

Yusuke balked.

"Okay, I'm maybe really crappy at math, but even I know that's not true!" he protested. "No way are you still in your thirties if I'm in my thirties already!"

"Hey, it's my fortieth birthday next year!" Atsuko insisted.

"No seriously, how old are you?" Yusuke asked.

"I'll be forty next year," she replied.

"How old will you be the year after that?"

"Forty."

"How old will you be when I turn forty?"

"Forty."

Yusuke sighed.

"You got big plans for your big birthday?" he asked.

"Same as last time," she replied.

Yusuke paused. He could remember visiting the living world a few years earlier, and by chance his mother's birthday had landed on one of the days he had been there. He remembered being at the Yukimura family restaurant, where Keiko's parents had made a birthday cake and later let off fireworks. Perhaps that had actually been Atsuko's fortieth birthday.

"You were fourteen when you had me, right?" he asked.

"Officially yes," she quietly replied. "But if anyone in here asks, you tell them I was twenty-two, and you're fifteen now."

"Right…" Yusuke muttered. "So if you're fourteen years older than me, and I'm thirty-one now, then you're definitely older than forty… And that time we had your birthday party at Keiko's was about… Four years ago, I think… Hey mom? Was I here for your actual fortieth birthday?"

"Yes, son," Atsuko said, putting an arm around his shoulders.

Yusuke winced slightly as he realised how badly his mother smelt of both stale and fresh alcohol. And, seeing her up close, he could see the yellowing of her eyes and the slight red pimpling of the skin over her nose: in his teenage years she had been an alcoholic, but it seemed that in the years since she had become entirely dependent on the substance and begun to take on the look of the sort of people he only saw in the roughest parts of town or in bad movies.

"I was?" he asked. "That's good. I'm glad I at least made it for one special birthday. I'm glad I'm not a total asshole."

"You will be," Atsuko added.

"Say what?" Yusuke echoed.

"You will be here for my fortieth birthday. It's the fifteenth of June, next year."

Yusuke groaned.

"You've got no excuse for forgetting, Yusuke!" Atsuko said, sounding suddenly angry. "Especially not now. My birthday's the same day as that creepy kid's."

"Right, how could I forget?" Yusuke said with a sigh.

"Keiko'll keep you right," Atsuko said. "Speaking of Keiko, when are you gonna make an honest woman out of that girl? You know it's quite embarrassing that your ugly friend married his girlfriend so long ago and you're still messing that poor girl around!"

"Kuwabara?" Yusuke echoed. "Gees, like I'd wanna get married right outta high school like Kuwabara did!"

"Listen Yusuke, he maybe did get married quite young, but at least he knows how to commit to that girl and their kid."

"Right mom."

"I'm going to the bar. Can I get you anything?"

"Could you get me a corkscrew? I think I need to give myself a lobotomy to remove that image you just planted in there."

Atsuko snorted in amusement and slapped Yusuke on the shoulder before standing up and stumbling over to the bar. She had always spoken nonsense when she was drunk, but hearing her talk about Kuwabara and Yukina having a child was the limit: she was clearly beyond normal means of help. As he watched her try to convince the barman to give her a drink free of charge, the borderline hysteria in her voice causing her to sound shrill, Yusuke suddenly realised exactly why her behaviour seemed so familiar.

He had sought his mother out in the hope of convincing her to get out of the city until the Dark Age was over: but suddenly another idea had occurred to him, and he needed to resolve the matter before he could even think about doing anything else.

* * *

"You don't have to stay here for this. If you want to go, you should go."

Kurama watched Kuwabara expectantly, but Kuwabara kept glancing over Kurama's shoulder, a slightly pouting expression of protest on his face.

"I think it's a good idea that you take a turn watching guard," Kurama added. "It gives Kaisei and Fubuki more time to train and it gives me an opportunity to assess Akira."

"I'll just wait here while you're sparring with Akira," Kuwabara said.

"I already told you that won't be necessary," Kurama replied.

"But I stayed here when you were sparring with Kaisei and Fubuki," Kuwabara pointed out. "It wouldn't be fair if I left Akira all alone with you. Also you let Kaisei and Fubuki attack you together. Akira's all alone."

"Kuwabara, if Akira is expected to fight alongside us, I expect him to be able to face me one-on-one in a simple sparring match."

"Okay, well, you should know that Akira is a lot younger than Kaisei and Fubuki."

"It'll be fine, Kuwabara. Please go."

"Okay but… Don't be too vicious, okay?"

Kurama narrowed his eyes slightly and Kuwabara audibly gulped.

"Yukina won't be happy about this," Kuwabara grumbled.

"Go, Kuwabara," Kurama insisted.

"Okay…" Kuwabara reluctantly mumbled. "Hey Akira?"

Kurama looked back over his shoulder at the slight figure at the other end of the room, still clad in the black garb of a ninja, watching them silently through the only gap in the fabric that otherwise covered every inch of his body.

"Do your best, okay?" Kuwabara called out to him. "Don't hold anything back! Really show Kurama what you can do, okay? Make me proud!"

"You should go," Akira called back to him.

Kuwabara pouted again, but did finally turn and drag himself from the room. Kurama followed him to the door, closing it behind him to ensure he did not change his mind at the last moment. He waited there a little longer, listening to Kuwabara's receding footsteps, before finally turning back to Akira.

"Unfortunately, although I was aware of your training here with the others, I haven't had the chance to get to know you before now," he began as he walked towards the centre of the room. "I've been quite impressed with what your fellow trainees are capable of. Would you consider yourself equal to Kaisei and Fubuki?"

"No, Sir," Akira immediately replied.

Kurama stopped short, almost tripping over his own feet. Akira was still standing straight, his red eyes will looking directly back at Kurama with a strange sense of unfaltering calm confidence, and yet there had not been the slightest hint of irony in his negative reply.

"I see," Kurama recovered. "How long have you been training with Kuwabara?"

"Two years, Sir," Akira replied.

"Do you think that you've learned much in that time?"

"Yes. Though not so much about combat."

Kurama frowned slightly.

"Why don't we start with a few basics, and then maybe afterwards we can discuss why you did the things that you did?" he suggested.

"Okay," Akira agreed. "You should take the first shot."

"Then my first lesson to you would be to never say such a thing to an opponent."

Kurama reached a hand into his hair and drew out his rose whip, keeping his eyes on Akira. He was unsure how much Kuwabara's students knew of him – as surely Kuwabara had mentioned the old team to his students at some point during their training – but either Akira was ignorant or fearless, as he did not so much as blink as Kurama's weapon unfurled into a thorned whip. Kurama never liked to make the first move, but it was blatantly clear that Akira would stand motionless until he was forced to defend himself or launch a counter-attack, and so Kurama readied himself to attack. Still Akira did not flinch as Kurama took aim, only finally moving at the exact moment that the rose whip began cracking through the air towards him.

Kurama was impressed at the speed Akira moved at to dodge being hit, but he was incredibly disappointed when dodging was all the ninja did. As Kurama's whip fell to the ground at the end of his initial attack, Akira landed on the ground to one side of Kurama, and returned to standing still and stiff, and watching him blankly.

"Your weapon's very impressive," he commented. "You hit me in seven places."

Kurama frowned, glancing down at his rose whip, only then noticing that some of the thorns were stained red. He turned back to Akira in time to see him touch a hand to his opposite arm and pull it back, revealing blood smeared over his fingers.

"We're not finished here," Kurama pointed out.

"That's fine," Akira replied.

Kurama's eyes moved to the ground by Akira's feet, where droplets of blood were starting to stain the floor.

Whatever Akira was, he clearly was not human.

* * *

Yusuke tapped a finger on the windowpane, waiting for Keiko to look up. It was so typical that she had become a teacher and that he was forced to go back to his old high school to track her down: she was even teaching in one of the classrooms he had once shared with her several years ago. As he watched through the window, he eventually saw Keiko turn from the projection screen, her eyes widening and her mouth freezing mid-sentence as she noticed him at the window. She took a moment to recover and when she did, her performance was impressively flawless. She set the class a reading task and left the room, pointing down the corridor as she reached the doorway. Yusuke nodded and then began climbing across the outer wall of the school to the next window along, which opened as he reached it.

"Really Yusuke?" Keiko cried as he met her face-to-face at the window. "You couldn't have come when I was on break, or picked a time when I was teaching on the ground floor? You had to wait until I was six floors up to come knocking at the window? I hope none of the kids saw you, they'll all be trying to climb up here…"

Yusuke grinned, deciding against telling Keiko that he had gained attention from most of at least three other classes on his way up to her.

"Listen, Keiko, I need to ask you something," he recovered.

"Let me guess," Keiko replied, her eyes thinning sceptically. "You want us to get married when this Dark Age is all over, right?"

"No, that's not it."

Keiko's face slowly warped into an angered sneer, and only when her face started to turn red did Yusuke realise his blunder.

"That's not what I meant!" he hurriedly added. "Look, can I just come in already? I gotta ask you something, and it's really, really important!"

"It better be, Yusuke!" Keiko warned him, before stepping back to allow him to leap through the open window.

"I went to see my mom," he said as he landed, deciding to just come straight to the point. "Did you know she's drinks all the time now?"

"Yusuke, your mom has always been a pretty heavy drinker," Keiko quietly replied.

"But it's so much worse now," Yusuke said. "She's so far gone… And, the thing is, I think I did that to her."

"Oh…"

Yusuke turned fully to Keiko as she hung her head.

"I did, didn't I?" he pressed. "It's my fault, right?"

"No, Yusuke," she said, shaking her head.

"I kinda feel like it is," Yusuke said, pushing his hands through his hair and pacing back and forth in agitation. "First I did it to my mom, then I did it to Botan and now I'm worried I'm gonna do it to you too!"

Keiko's head snapped up.

"Yusuke, what are you talking about?" she asked.

"My mom drank because of me," he said. "She drank because I was a difficult kid. I never gave her a reason to be proud of me or to want to live in the real world, so she just drank more and more to escape from me and all the problems I made for her. And then it's my fault Botan is an alcoholic now–"

"Whoa, Yusuke, stop!" Keiko interrupted, holding up her hands. "Botan is not an alcoholic! Whatever gave you that idea?"

Yusuke stopped pacing and pouted at Keiko.

"What gave me that idea?" he repeated. "Oh gee, I dunno, how about the fact that one time I told Botan she should get drunk and forget about something and she did it, and every time I've seen her since then, she's been a mess, and last night she was drunker than my mom ever has been! I did that to her!"

"No, trust me Yusuke, you're way off the mark," Keiko flatly replied. "In the last twelve years, Botan's only been drunk twice: and one of those times was last night. Of course, if you'd visited more often, you'd know that."

"So she's not a drunk?"

"No. Botan is definitely not a drunk."

"But… Every time I've seen her, she's been such a mess!"

"She's a mess right now because she's scared about the Dark Age. You can understand that, surely?"

"I guess so."

Yusuke sighed.

"I kinda feel like it's over for my mom either way, you know?" he said.

Keiko said nothing, but she did not need to: the look in her eye was answer enough. He nodded and forced a humourless smile.

"You should get up to Genkai's place as soon as you can," he said. "I don't like the way this is going."

Keiko nodded.

"I wanna see you up there at the end of this, okay?" he added.

"Then don't get yourself killed, you jerk," she replied, smiling at him.

"Heh, I'll try not to this time."

"That's not funny."

It was Yusuke's turn to smile.

"Good luck," Keiko added.

"You too," he replied.

He turned to leave, but paused as he felt his jacket tugging between his shoulders. He looked back over one shoulder and saw that Keiko had grabbed a handful of his jacket to halt his exit. Her head was down, but he could sense that she was struggling with her emotions. He silently and gently pulled himself from her grasp and then turned to her, taking her in his arms. She placed her hands on his chest and buried her face against his shoulder as he moved one hand to the back of her head. And in that moment it felt as though time was standing still – as though they were back at school, fourteen years old again, and demon world was nothing more than a legend.

* * *

"What do you do in your training sessions here?"

Kurama continued slowing walking in a circle around Akira, who had dropped to one knee, one hand clutching his opposite arm.

"Train," he plainly replied.

"Do you understand what a battle is?" Kurama asked. "Because I have serious concerns that you do not. Your defensive skills are impressive, but you cannot win a battle if you do not fight back."

"I understand that, Sir."

"Then why will you not fight back now?"

"You're not my enemy."

Kurama stopped pacing, looking down from the corner of his eye at the back of Akira's head.

"What sort of demon are you, Akira?" he asked quietly.

He heard Akira gasp, but he received no other response.

"And how did you come to be associated with Koenma and Kuwabara?" Kurama added.

"I'm not a demon, Sir," Akira said.

"Clearly you are," Kurama insisted. "I'm not a fool, don't try to treat me as such."

"I didn't mean to be disrespectful. I was just trying to be honest."

"If you will not discuss your nature with me, will you at least discuss your origin?"

Akira stood up with a grunt and turned to face Kurama, glaring up at him from behind his restrictive clothing.

"Tell me why you're working for spirit world," Kurama added.

"I have no other choice," Akira quietly replied.

"I see," Kurama said, nodding his head. "It's as I thought. You've been ordered to fight with us."

"Yes, that's true," Akira replied. "But I'm happy to fight to protect my mother."

Kurama turned to fully face Akira, his interest piqued then.

"Where is your mother now?" he asked.

"She's near by," Akira replied. "And Koenma promised me that if I did this, he would give me back my freedom and he promised me my mother would be safe where she is until the Dark Age is over."

"Take off your hood."

Akira gasped, his hand releasing his injured arm and flying to cover the lower half of his already covered face.

"If we are to be allies, we need to be able to trust each other," Kurama said, stowing his rose whip in his hair again. "Show me your face."

"I don't understand why you need to see my face to understand anything about my ability to fight with you," Akira replied.

"This isn't about your ability as a fighter," Kurama pointed out. "This is a trust exercise. Show me your face."

"Fine,"

Kurama was a little surprised that Akira had obliged his request so quickly, and he partially expected him to suddenly attack rather than actually carry out the order: however Akira remained calm and did as Kurama had ordered.

"Do you feel enlightened?" he asked as he completed his task, sounding vaguely sarcastic.

Akira did not look especially unusual: were it not for his colouring and slightly sharp features, he could easily pass for an ordinary human boy. But, with his hood off, it was no longer Akira's face that interested Kurama.

"What's that around your neck?"

Akira gasped, and this time, with his face fully visible, his shock was clear. His hand pressed against his chest – which seemed like an odd reaction to Kurama, as he had been referring to the collar on the boy's neck.

"It looks like a prison issue collar from spirit world," Kurama pressed.

"Oh this?" Akira asked, the shock vanishing from his face as his hand moved to point at the collar around his neck. "Yes, it is a prison issue collar from spirit world."

"You're a little young to be wearing one of those are you not?" Kurama asked.

"Is there an age limit on receiving such a punishment?"

Kurama thought it odd that the child spoke so frankly, but he thought that he had perhaps seemed the same way when he had been trapped in the body of a ten year old Shuichi, and so he let that matter go.

"Those collars are only issued for severe offences," he explained. "I wouldn't expect a child like you to have committed a crime against spirit world that was deemed serious enough for you to require such a drastic punishment."

"I agreed to wear it," Akira replied. "It was the only way they would let me still see my family."

"I see. What did you do that caused you to run afoul of spirit world?"

Akira smiled in a strangely sinister way.

"I was born," he said darkly.

"I'd appreciate an honest answer," Kurama pressed. "In battle, I will be trusting you to fight alongside me and my friends and family."

"I'm trusting you to fight alongside me and my friends and family too," Akira coldly replied. "Sir."

He added the "sir" as something of an afterthought, though his tone had not sounded facetious.

"What sort of demon are you?" Kurama asked again.

"I'm not a demon," Akira answered again.

"Do you expect me to believe that you're human?"

"No."

Kurama frowned and Akira appeared to smile slightly as he held Kurama's gaze. Kurama took a step closer to him and moved a hand around the back of his neck, slipping two fingers between his skin and the collar, pulling it taut against the boy's throat in a way that made his eyes widen and his jaw tense.

"I learned an interesting skill from a fellow in-mate when I myself ran afoul of spirit world," he explained. "I could remove this for you. What do you think would happen if I did that right now?"

"Please don't," Akira said, his eyes widening further, contracted pupils staring up at Kurama fearfully.

"You don't want me to remove it?" Kurama asked. "You don't want me to set you free?"

"If you take it off, and they find out, they won't ever let me see my mother again."

"Your mother is very important to you, yes?"

"Yes. Please stop."

"I'm sure nothing bad would happen to her if I removed this collar–"

Kurama stopped abruptly, holding his position as best he could as panic overtook any other instinct within Akira and he grabbed Kurama's arm, pulling his hand from the collar and leaping back. As Akira landed, several feet away, Kurama looked down at the marks left on his sleeve where Akira's fingers had touched the fabric.

"Interesting," he muttered. "I think we've found your weakness. If you don't want me to take off that collar, you're going to have to fight me."

"I don't want to fight you!" Akira hurriedly replied.

"This is what the Dark Force will do if it confronts you," Kurama pointed out. "It will find and exploit your weakness and push your every button to get whatever negative emotional reaction it can out of you. If you want to stand a chance of defeating it and living at peace with your mother, you're going to have to learn to overcome your fears."

"I'm not afraid," Akira lied.

"Yes you are. I can smell it on you."

"I'm not scared of you."

"Then what are you scared of?"

Kurama began slowly walking towards Akira, who backed away until his back hit the wall. Kurama lifted up a hand as though to reach for the collar again, but shortly found himself retracting his hand as Akira launched a short, sharp attack before using the moment of confusion to leap over the fox demon's head. Kurama was still none the wiser as to where Akira had come from or why he was working for spirit world, but, after witnessing the boy's last attack, there was no denying that he was a demon.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** Yusuke says his final goodbyes and heads out to demon world to meet up with the other members of the demon world defenders. Kurama notices a few strange patterns in the photographs on the wall of Genkai's temple, and, after a little mental arithmetic, he believes he has figured out a few things the others may have been overlooking. **Chapter 5 – Defending Demon World**


	5. Defending Demon World

**Chapter 5 – Defending Demon World**

Yusuke leapt off Puu's back and started to walk towards the strange old house he had spent the night before in: but halfway there he stopped, tilting his head slightly as he both sensed that he was being followed and remembered that the last time he had done what he was doing again now, that weird little brat Akira had tried to attack him. When he heard a twig snapping and caught a hint of an aura that was distinctly human, he sighed.

"Hey, Kuwabara," he said. "This is just like the old days, huh? You following me around in the shadows, hoping for another rematch?"

"I'm on guard, Urameshi!" Kuwabara replied, stepping out into the clearing.

"You're doing a great job," Yusuke replied. "You almost didn't stop me walking right into the house over there."

"Yeah, that's real funny," Kuwabara grumbled. "Aren't you supposed to be in Demon World by now?"

"I'm getting there," Yusuke casually replied. "I just wanted one last look at the train wreck."

"The train wreck?"

"Yeah."

Kuwabara looked confused, and so Yusuke capitalised on the moment by continuing into the house without him. As he entered the old house, Kuwabara apparently finally caught on to his meaning, as he cried out a "hey" of complaint; but Yusuke did not hesitate, continuing through the house to a large room where he found Kurama sitting on the floor facing three figures. Yusuke moved over to sit down next to Kurama, nodding a greeting to the fox demon.

"How's it going?" he asked.

"Shouldn't you be in Demon World by now?" Kurama replied.

Yusuke's face dropped.

"It's great to see you too, fox boy!" he snapped irritably.

Yusuke grunted in annoyance and turned to the person sitting immediately in front of him, finding himself facing Kaisei, who smiled back at him. The kid was an adult – he and his sister had clearly inherited their above average stature from their tall parents – but something about the sparkle in his eyes still looked incredibly immature to Yusuke.

"How's it going, man?" Kaisei asked him.

"Okay," Yusuke flatly replied. "Kinda worried Kuwabara and Kurama are taking it easy on you though."

"Heh, maybe I'm just that damn good that I can handle anything they throw my way," Kaisei replied. "Ever think of that?"

Yusuke narrowed his eyes. He wanted to hate the kid's enthusiasm, but something about Kaisei reminded him of himself as a street brawling teenager, and so he kept quiet, instead moving his attention to the figure sitting next to Kaisei and across from Kurama, who was of course Kaisei's sister Fubuki.

"Hey, how's it going?" Yusuke asked her.

"Shouldn't you be going back to Demon World already?" she replied.

Yusuke smiled. He could not really remember her being as pretty as she suddenly was, but he supposed that time had changed a lot about everyone. He found his eyes wandering lower, his eyebrows twitching in a blend of impressed interest at her strong physique and admiration of just how much she had matured.

"Why don't you take a picture, asshole?"

Yusuke's eyes snapped back to Fubuki's and she smiled.

"Yeah, Keiko warned me about you," she said as their eyes met.

"I wasn't checking you out!" Yusuke lied. "Have you seen the women in Demon World? Women like you have nothing on them!"

"What about Keiko?" Fubuki asked, smiling slyly.

Yusuke gave her an admonishing glower before shifting his attention to the final person sitting in the row, unintentionally making a small noise of disgust and flinching back. Red eyes lifted from the floor to look over at him from a sharp-featured, pouting face.

"Who the hell are you?" Yusuke asked.

"That's Akira, remember?" Kuwabara said as he sat down on Kurama's other side, facing the smallest member of the group.

Yusuke tried not to look as unsettled as he felt. When the kid had been jumping around with a hood covering most of his face he had just been annoying; but with the hood removed, he looked more than a little creepy. Seeing the kid without his hood though did at least settle one matter: he was some sort of demon. Not only did he have inhuman red eyes, but his hair – his slightly unkempt and slightly straggly hair – was one of the strangest shades of lilac Yusuke had ever seen.

"Hey kid," he recovered. "Don't look so happy to see me…"

Akira lifted his head slightly, but otherwise did not respond. He had a visible wound on his thigh, highlighted by the black material of the clothing covering it which was tacky with blood.

"Well, I don't know exactly what I'm up against when I go to Demon World," Yusuke said, turning from the odd child to address the slightly more bearable Sato siblings. "But I do know that, until I get back, you are in charge of making sure nobody dies here in the living world."

"We're on it, boss," Kaisei said confidently.

"Yeah, well, if I hear you let anyone I know or care about in any way get hurt in any way, I'll make all three of you pay," Yusuke warned.

"Forget about it!" Fubuki said. "We've got this covered!"

Yusuke slowly turned to Kurama and Kuwabara. Kuwabara seemed to be distracted by the wound on Akira's leg, which he appeared to have just noticed, but Kurama was attempting a smile.

"We have this under control Yusuke," he said. "But we'd all feel a lot more confident if we knew that you were in Demon World leading the charge, so to speak."

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" Yusuke asked. "Because it kinda seems like you are."

"It seems like you are stalling."

Yusuke's smile vanished.

"I can take a hint," he grumbled, rising to his feet again.

"Give 'em hell, Urameshi!" Kaisei said, cheerfully punching a fist in the air.

"Someone needs to lay off the sugar…" Yusuke muttered.

"But remember to leave some of them for us," Fubuki added. "It's not fair if you get to have all the fun!"

Yusuke groaned.

"Good luck, Yusuke," Kurama said.

Yusuke nodded at him.

"Take care, Sir."

Yusuke frowned slightly as his eyes moved to Akira, who was still watching him with the same, slightly startled, slightly unapproachable look in his eyes, despite the warmth of his words and tone.

"I'll see you all on the other side," he said, waving a hand in the air.

He turned and left the house, shaking his head as he went. He had gone back there specifically to try to set his mind at ease that Koenma had in fact recruited a decent team to defend the living world: but instead all he had managed to do – in his own mind at least – was to reinforce Hiei's earlier remarks regarding their effectiveness: Kuwabara had lost a lot of speed and strength, Kaisei and Fubuki were over-confident, Akira was just a weird little kid and Kurama was going to have his hands full babysitting, which would only serve to distract the fox demon who was, apparently, their only truly effective warrior.

* * *

"Ain't it just like Yusuke to be late to a party?"

Hiei tilted his head slightly to look up at the overly chipper wind demon at his side.

"Maybe he's just trying to make a grand entrance by being fashionably late."

Hiei scowled at the clown across from him – who no longer dressed as a clown, but who would forever be remembered as a clown by Hiei.

"They say patience is a virtue. And waiting has never been a problem for me, least of all with my long history as a member of the shinobi."

The ice demon was the only one Hiei could almost tolerate of the entire band of fools.

"I ain't got a problem waiting for anyone, mate."

The drunk was clearly lying, as he had been fidgeting and pacing about for the past hour.

"I'm sure he has a good reason for being this late."

Hiei held back a scoff: it was not like the imp had noticed Yusuke's tardiness, as he had spent the entire time exchanging hair flicks and knowing looks with a trio of giggling girls who kept walking by as though nobody would notice that they were only walking by to be admired.

"Hey, does anyone wanna spar to fill in some time?"

Hiei sneered when he caught the kid with the yo-yos looking in his direction; though he had to admit to himself that the kid was not so much of a kid any more, as he had grown tall and lanky, and was starting to look too old to be playing with yo-yos and dressing in what looked like pyjamas. Looking at the kid did give Hiei pause for thought however, as he realised then how time in Demon World could sometimes be an odd thing. None of the other five demons he had met up with had changed physically since his first meeting with them at the Dark Tournament so many years ago, but the kid had changed quite drastically. In fact, the kid had changed so much, the only visual clue that he was still the same kid was his toys and his childish fashion sense.

"What do you say, Hiei?" the kid asked, apparently mistaking Hiei's glare as a positive acknowledgement of his challenge. "I'm a lot faster now – I might even be as fast as you. Wanna try your luck against some of my new moves?"

"I've never cared for playing with toys or children, not even when I was a child myself," Hiei flatly replied. "Find yourself a playmate someplace else."

"Gees, just as well Koenma left Kurama in charge of the kids in living world and not you Hiei, otherwise they'd all be dead by now!"

Hiei sighed and stood up as Yusuke joined the group, grinning his way around the others as they all cheerfully greeted him.

"What took you so long?" Hiei demanded. "You said you wouldn't be long."

"Yeah, well, stuff happened," Yusuke replied, shrugging casually.

"It's good to see you again, Yusuke," Touya greeted him. "It's unfortunate that it has to be under such dire circumstances – I had hoped that this time at the Demon World Tournament I might finally get the opportunity to test my skills against you in combat."

"Well, we still need to have a Demon World Tournament this year, right?" Yusuke replied with a shrug. "As soon as we put this shadow puppet back inside his cage, it's back on, right?"

"That's assuming there is any Demon World to come back to once it's all over," Hiei grumbled.

Yusuke cast him a brief glance before turning to the others.

"Don't mind him," the mazoku told them. "He's been bitchy ever since he found out his sister married his least favourite human."

Hiei growled and flashed his teeth at Yusuke, but did not bother correcting his remark: after all, unlike Yusuke himself, Hiei had known about Yukina's marriage to Kuwabara for several years already.

"So I don't suppose any of you guys know what happened to Enki at all, right?" Yusuke asked.

The others shook their heads solemnly.

"But while we've been waiting here, we have noticed something else that maybe warrants attention first," Suzuka said, pointing over towards Yomi's home.

"Oh yeah?" Yusuke responded.

Hiei tried not to show how irritated he was that the six he had met with had discovered something and then waited until Yusuke arrived to divulge any of the details of their find.

"Yeah, seems like there's been a bit of a barney over there," Chu said.

"A barney, huh?" Yusuke asked."What do you mean, like a big purple dinosaur showed up and started making people dance?"

"No, idiot!" Rinku said, rolling his eyes. "Barney means an argument."

"It does?" Yusuke echoed.

"The point is, something was causing a lot of shouting over there earlier, and then everything suddenly went very quiet," Shishiwakamaru said.

"Too quiet, if'n you ask me," Jin added.

"And it's been that way ever since," Touya finished.

"How long has it been like that?" Hiei asked.

Suzuka shrugged.

"A few hours now, I'd say," he said.

Hiei growled again.

"Maybe everyone in there is just a bit riled up about this Dark Force asshole creeping around," Yusuke suggested.

"You need to stop taking this so lightly," Hiei admonished him. "The Dark Force is neither something you can joke about nor something you can personify."

"Well, either way, I think this Dark Force dude has eaten your sense of humour, Hiei," Yusuke replied.

"Pfft, bet that kept him fed for like two seconds!" Rinku scoffed. "No wonder he's gone on a rampage, he's still starving!"

Hiei readied himself to give the brat the beating his absent parents should have done years ago; but before he could enact his plan, an almighty surge of demonic energy sliced into his thoughts. The entire group momentarily froze, before all glancing around each other and then taking off towards the source of the energy eruption.

Hiei, being the fastest of the group, was the first to arrive at the scene, and for that he was glad, as his initial reaction to what he saw was not something he would have wanted the others to have witnessed: he was neither surprised nor concerned when he found himself standing over a damaged section of road in an otherwise quite bland part of demon world on the edge of Gandara.

It was the place the Dark Force had been hibernating: and Hiei was not really sure that any of the others with him would be aware of that, least of all as keenly as he was.

"What the hell was that?" Yusuke asked as he caught up to Hiei.

"Sure left the road a mess, so it did," Jin said, frowning at the cracked, scorched and hollowed out mess the road had been left in.

"Something here is amiss," Touya said, narrowing his eyes critically. "Whatever we just felt didn't cause this damage."

"How do you know that?" Yusuke asked.

"The damage is old," Suzuka said, crouching down and poking at a dusty clump of charcoaled rock.

"So it's just a coincidence that what we felt came from around this disaster?" Shishiwakamaru asked.

"Uh... Not quite, mate..." Chu said quietly.

Hiei turned towards him, at first sneering when he saw the awestruck way the drunk was peering up at a stain on a nearby boulder.

"Wh-what does that say?" Rinku asked.

The sound of apprehension in the cocky kid's voice caught Hiei's interest, and he relaxed his expression and moved over to join Chu and the others in front of the boulder. He realised then, upon closer inspection, that what had looked like a random splatter of dirt was in fact a crudely written message, painted onto the boulder face with a mixture of blood and what looked like charcoal from the burned parts of the road.

"The search was short, it was easy to find," Yusuke read aloud. "What was needed, spirit, heart, soul and mind. Now after fourteen years it's far too late, this is how it ends, just the chosen eight."

"Chosen eight?" Suzuka repeated.

"But... There's eight of us..." Rinku pointed out.

"Looks like this fella knows we're onto him already," Chu suggested.

Hiei started to remind Chu – as well as the other six – that the Dark Force was not a "fella" or an "asshole" or a "dude"; but his words were drowned out as the others continued debating the words on the boulder.

"This feels like a trap," Shishiwakamaru said.

"I think it's just an attempt to intimidate us," Touya replied. "We shouldn't let it concern us. We should continue onwards as though we had not even seen this."

"What do you boys reckon this part about "spirit, heart, soul and mind" means, then?" Jin asked.

"I don't know about that, but it's clear this message was meant for the eight of us," Suzuka said.

"Exactly!" Rinku agreed. "It was like the Dark Force was watching us the whole time, and when it saw Yusuke join us and then it heard us talking about Enki, it did this to distract us or to remind us that we can't think about anything else but stopping it!"

"Okay, everybody needs to calm down, seriously," Yusuke interjected.

"Hn, that's your response to everything," Hiei sneered.

Yusuke looked back over his shoulder at Hiei, narrowing his eyes and pouting in a way that warned Hiei a sarcastic insult was pending.

"This isn't the time for "calming down" or slacking off," Hiei added, before Yusuke could say anything.

"Gees, what's your problem?" Rinku asked him.

"Well they do say the Dark Force is more easily able to take control of those willing to be controlled..." Suzuka muttered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yusuke snapped.

Hiei was mildly relieved that Yusuke had come to his defence, as it saved him the bother of having to stain his sword on a supposed ally.

"It's a well known fact the Dark Force has the ability to unleash hidden potential in the host body it takes over and that it can more easily take over a body prone to negative emotions," Shishiwakamaru said. "So anyone here who places more importance on power and strength absolute than loyalty or friendship is a likely candidate to be the next victim of our enemy."

"Well nobody here is dumb enough to be like that, so forget about it!" Yusuke insisted.

"Yusuke's right, y'know," Jin agreed. "The Dark Force's favourite meal is friends like us arguin' amongst ourselves like this."

"Yes, that's right," Touya added. "We should be pulling together and focusing our combined energy on figuring out what that message means, not splitting apart because of petty in-fighting."

"I think it's pretty obvious what that message means," Rinku moaned. "It means the Dark Force is super pleased that the eight of us teamed up together here in Demon World ready for it to come after us all together at once."

"As someone who has lived through a Dark Age, let me assure that, at this stage at least, there is no possible way the Dark Force is coming for the eight of us collectively," Touya replied. "It cannot possibly have the strength to do so yet. It could not best even one of us in combat and would stand no chance of managing to take control of any of us."

"So the Dark Force is at its weakest right now?" Suzuka asked.

"Exactly," Touya confirmed. "But with every passing second, it gains strength and mobility. Our best bet of taking control of this situation is to find the Dark Force itself as quickly as possible and shut it down, one way or another, before it becomes too powerful to face in combat."

"Sounds obvious," Yusuke said. "And it should be easy enough to find, right?"

"No, that's where the problems arise, unfortunately," Touya said. "The Dark Force could be anywhere and in any form at any time. Even now, as weak as it is, it could have taken control of hundreds of low-powered demons and consumed just a single one: we could waste days, weeks and perhaps even months fighting off controlled demons, and all the while the one consumed demon, the demon who's body is host to the actual Dark Force, will be feeding off the negativity, getting stronger, and upgrading to more powerful hosts however and whenever it can."

"Some of us don't have any difficulty telling the controlled apart from the consumed," Hiei pointed out, focusing energy into his Jagan eye, forcing it to illuminate beneath his bandana to help illustrate his point.

"Too bad we ain't all got one of those, mate," Chu pointlessly commented.

"We've all got Hiei though," Yusuke pointed out.

"And that's not all we got," Jin cheerfully added. "Me an' Touya might have a little clue that can help us all outta this little mess with tellin' apart the controlled and the consumed."

"Really?" Yusuke said, brightening visibly."That's awesome!"

"Yes, Jin and I received a communication this morning from a former ally of ours that may be a lead to finding the current host body for the Dark Force."

"Any particular reason why you waited this damn long to tell us this?" Hiei growled, eying Jin and Touya suspiciously.

"Well, it's not like he's a guy we were too keen to get back in touch with, if you know what I'm sayin'," Jin replied with a shrug.

"I suggest Jin and I meet with him and find out what he has to say," Touya offered. "I get the feeling he will be unwilling to open up in the presence of everyone else here. But, in the outside chance that this is a trap of some sorts, I suggest all six of the others follow us discreetly and prepare to intervene if and when necessary."

"Sounds sensible, let's go with that," Yusuke said.

The others nodded and Jin and Touya started off, the others following them.

"Hey, I don't suppose this "former ally" of yours is anyone I know?" Yusuke asked, winking at Hiei as though he had made a joke.

"As matter of fact yes, he is," Touya replied over his shoulder.

"Oh, really?" Yusuke muttered. "Gees, I was just kidding too..."

"It's Rishu," Jin added.

"What?" Hiei echoed.

"You remember Rishu?" Touya asked. "He was a member of the shinobi we were a part of, and he was the leader of Team Masho when you fought us during the Dark Tournament."

"The guy Kuwabara fought," Yusuke whispered to Hiei.

"I remember," Hiei growled back irritably.

"Kuwabara was getting his ass handed to him, but then your sister showed up, and Kuwabara won the match because seeing Yukina gave him such a bo–"

"Stop!" Hiei roared, causing all the others to glower at him.

"What?" Yusuke asked, shrugging and feigning innocence. "I was just gonna say "gave him such a boost of positive energy". What's so bad about that? It's true, isn't it?"

Hiei snarled and hunched his shoulders.

"Kuwabara really turned that match around and won the round for us," Yusuke added quietly. "You should be proud of your brother-in-law for that, Hiei."

"Kuwabara is not my brother-in-law!" Hiei snapped.

"He kinda is, actually..." Yusuke muttered.

"His sudden and inexplicable marriage to my sister changes nothing between him and me," Hiei warned.

"Except that it makes you in-laws..."

Hiei growled and hunched his shoulders further over, gritting his teeth painfully as he tried not to think about the regrettable fact that Yusuke was repeating.

After all, he still had no idea why Yukina had married the oaf so suddenly as she had.

* * *

"Okay, that'll be a no..."

Kaito sat forwards and screwed up his face as he watched Akira meticulously pick through his food. At the other side of the table, Fubuki snorted into her hands in amusement and Kaisei groaned and rolled his eyes. At the top of the table, Kuwabara happily continued with his meal, and at the foot of the table, Kurama remained paused over his own plate, his eyes moving around the others curiously.

"Kid, what are you doing?" Kaito eventually asked.

Akira stopped short, chopsticks poised over his plate, and lifted large red eyes to Kaito, sitting beside him, looking almost as though he had just been caught doing something terrible.

"Akira's really fussy," Kuwabara said through a mouthful of food.

"I'm not fussy," Akira said flatly, his face relaxing a little. "I just know what I do and don't like."

He resumed picking pieces of sushi from his place with his chopsticks and transferring them onto Kuwabara's plate and Kaito shook his head in despair.

"So, this is your team for defending the living world?" he asked Kuwabara.

"Yeah," Kuwabara replied. "We've been training pretty hard for this fight, and we're ready for anything that the Dark Force sends to the living world."

Kaito quirked an eyebrow at him cynically, and when Kuwabara failed to understand his gesture, Kaito turned his attention to Kurama.

"Yes, I understand how this must look," Kurama began. "You've happened upon us eating at a restaurant as though we are merely enjoying ourselves and resting on our laurels, but I assure you that's not the case."

"This was my idea," Kuwabara offered.

Kaito arched his eyebrows.

"You know those insects are hanging around pretty much everywhere," he said to Kurama. "Mushiyori city is full of them, and I came here to Sarayashiki to seek help, only to find that it's every bit as bad here. And the whole way here they were swarming in the skies."

"I feared our team lacked solidarity," Kurama explained. "Kaisei and Fubuki here are siblings, and so of course have known each other all their lives, and Kuwabara and I have of course been friends for a long time, but there is where the connections begin and end. I am concerned that we will be unable to work as an effective team if we do not make an attempt to get to understand each other."

"I've known Akira since day one," Kuwabara offered.

"And I've known Kaisei and Fubuki for two years," Akira added.

Kaito gave Kurama a flat look before slowly rising from the table.

"Would you excuse me?" he said to the others. "I just need to freshen up."

"I'll join you," Kurama said, hurriedly rising from his seat.

He sensed that Kaito had made the announcement in the hope of drawing him away from the group, and, assuming that it meant his former classmate had information he wanted to secretly impart, Kurama promptly followed Kaito to the toilets. Once they were through the door, Kaito pushed each of the stall doors in turn to check that they were alone before rounding on Kurama.

"I can't say I'm inspired by your choice of allies, Kurama," he said. "Where's Yusuke and the little impatient one?"

"Yusuke and Hiei are predisposed in Demon World, on the front line of this effort," Kurama tightly replied. "Kuwabara and I are more than capable of handling things from this end at this stage."

"Ah-ha!" Kaito said, holding up a finger. "So you agree that you and Kuwabara are the only competent fighters defending the living world?"

Kurama paused, but only briefly.

"I have not known Kaisei, Fubuki or Akira long enough to fairly judge their true potential," he recovered.

Kaito arched his eyebrows.

"That's not to say that I don't have my reservations," Kurama added.

"Yes, well, if you need me, you know where I am," Kaito replied.

"Thank you, but for now, I'd like to keep the active roster of fighters here in the living world to a bare minimum," Kurama said. "Though it may not be a bad idea for you to get in touch with Kido and Yanigishawa, if you haven't done so already."

"Already on it," Kaito said.

He leaned back and pulled open the bathroom door slightly, peering out of the crack he had created. He held his position for a moment before letting the door close again and turning his attention back to Kurama.

"Honestly, other than you and Kuwabara, I think the only potentially worthy fighter out there is the girl," he concluded. "But how effective she ends up being will depend on whether or not you can get her to take anything seriously."

"Don't tell anyone out there what you just told me," Kurama said. "I'm having a hard enough time getting them to all work together, the last thing I need is for one of them to think they are better than the other two, and for the other two to grow resentful for it."

"No danger of that happening," Kaito replied, smirking remorsefully. "I was never especially good at making conversation with teenage girls when I was a teenager myself, and I'm afraid to say it's an ability I have even less skill at now than I did back then."

Kurama decided against correcting Kaito by telling him that Fubuki was in fact 24, and hardly a teenage girl: after all Kaito's calling her such was surely only further proof that he had little knowledge or understanding of girls and women in general, and correcting him would probably only make him feel worse.

"We shouldn't loiter here," he said instead. "In case the others get suspicious."

"Right," Kaito agreed.

Together they left the toilets and headed back to the table, where Kurama sat back down in his seat and Kaito stopped by his own seat, peering down at Akira, who was still picking through his food.

"Oh, come on now!" Kaito complained. "You don't even eat cucumber maki? Why did you order a sushi plate if you don't even eat something as basic as cucumber maki?"

Akira afforded him a brief glance, but did not stop his task.

"I don't like cucumber," he said, as he turned his attention back to his plate.

"How can you not like something as plain as cucumber?" Kaito asked.

Akira turned to give him another brief, slightly scathing look.

"It tastes like perfume," he said.

"What?" Kaito echoed.

"It tastes like perfume. I don't like it."

"And how do you know what perfume tastes like?"

"Have you ever kissed a woman wearing perfume before?"

Kaito froze, looking both surprised and slightly embarrassed by Akira's question.

"Um, yes..." he eventually answered.

"Then you know the taste I'm talking about," Akira replied with a shrug. "Tastes exactly like cucumber."

Kaito looked over at Kuwabara, who grinned back at him through a mouthful of food.

"More for me!" he said cheerfully.

Kaito turned to Fubuki, who was still grinning, her eyes sparkling with mirth.

"The kid's a riot," she said. "He says the strangest things, it's hilarious!"

Kaito turned to Kaisei.

"It's like this every day," Kaisei said with a sigh.

Kaito turned to Kurama.

"Like I said, good luck getting her to take anything seriously," he said.

Kurama smiled patiently and nodded. Kaito nodded back and then took his leave. Kurama decided to take control of the conversation before Fubuki started to crack jokes and Kaisei started to speak his mind regarding his evident irritation.

"Tomorrow, I would like to run some simulations of some situations we are likely to encounter," he proposed. "It will be an ideal opportunity for me to gauge your skills and any gaps in your training."

"Ooh, "gaps in our training"?" Fubuki said, grinning wickedly. "Not sure that's something you should be discussing right here in front of our teacher!"

"Kuwabara knows I am not insulting him," Kurama calmly replied.

"Besides, I'm not your only teacher," Kuwabara pointed out. "You've both had training with your mom for nearly 20 years before you came to me."

"So you're saying Kurama should blame our mom for any "gaps in our training"?" Kaisei asked.

"Yeah," Kuwabara replied with a grin. "Just don't tell your mom I said that, okay?"

Kaisei and Fubuki laughed and Kurama held back a sigh.

"We've been training with our mom since we could walk," Fubuki said to Kurama.

"Yeah, I started training to fight demons before I was even out of diapers!" Kaisei agreed.

"Well, that's something, I suppose," Kurama replied, forcing a smile. "Yusuke speaks highly of your mother, and Koenma assures me that she was an excellent spirit detective."

"Yes she was," Fubuki said. "And that's why I chose my mom as the one person I wanted to save. My brother chose our dad."

"We both chose our parents," Kaisei corrected her. "Koenma said we could have one person each at the safe house, and we both wanted our parents. It just so happens that the way Koenma wrote it down, it looks like I picked dad and Fubuki picked mom."

"We don't play favourites," Fubuki said. "Much."

As the two siblings laughed at their own joke, Kurama slowly moved his eyes to Kuwabara, feeling increasingly unsettled when he saw his old friend looking totally content.

"Koenma allowed the two of you to nominate a person to stay at the safe house?" Kurama asked, turning his attention back to Kaisei and Fubuki.

"Of course he did!" Kaisei said.

"That was the deal, right?" Fubuki asked. "All the fighters get to nominate one non-fighter they want protected in the safe house."

"I was under the impression that only a limited number of non-fighters were to be housed there," Kurama said, again staring across the table expectantly at Kuwabara.

"Yeah, the number is limited to one non-fighter for every active fighter," Kaisei said.

"So who did you nominate, Kurama?" Fubuki asked.

When Kuwabara kept his eyes on his food and his expression contented as though the conversation around him was not in the least shocking or controversial, Kurama sighed lightly and turned his attention back to Fubuki.

"I chose my mother," he answered her. "But I, as well as certain other fighters, would have liked to save more than just one person."

"Yeah, we all think that, Mister Popularity," Kaisei said, his tone bordering on sarcastic. "But I'm using that as my motivation to make sure the Dark Force doesn't take over the living world and force us into the situation where we need to use the safe house as a safe house."

"Well, that's sensible thinking," Kurama said.

"How will we know when it's time to move our nominated people into the house?" Fubuki asked.

"Good question," Kuwabara said. "I dunno when I'll get my sister to agree it's time for her to move there."

"Our dad won't want to go until he thinks it's actually dangerous for him not to go," Kaisei commented.

"And our mom won't want to go even when it does get dangerous, because she's got a chip on her shoulder about not letting demons drive her out of her home," Fubuki added.

Kurama nodded, his attention flicking to the other side of the table as he noticed Akira drying pieces of pickled ginger on a napkin. His eyes flicked over to Kurama before he paused his task.

"It's pickled," he said, as though he thought Kurama was expecting an explanation for what he was doing. "I don't like vinegar. It tastes like wine."

Kurama tilted his head slightly, but suppressed the urge to comment on Akira's unusual response in favour of broaching another subject as it arose in his mind.

"And who did you nominate to stay in the safe house, Akira?"

Akira gave Kurama a vaguely condescending look that fleetingly reminded Kurama of Hiei, before lowering his head and flicking a finger at the straggly hair hanging over his eyes.

"My mother," he said, his eyes back on the napkin.

A strange feeling passed over Kurama and he found himself sitting forwards towards Akira.

"And when do you think would be the best time to relocate your mother to the safe house?" he asked.

"My mother's already where she's expected to be," Akira replied.

Kurama slowly sat back, again finding the confidently relaxed look on Kuwabara's face strikingly odd. Something was amiss, but he felt as though he was one step closer to understanding what it was.

* * *

Yusuke lay down at the top of the hill, crawling along on his stomach to bring his head up over the peak, affording himself a view of the valley on the other side. Hiei moved over to one side of him and Chu moved to his other side. The others all lined themselves up along the brim of the hill, all watching silently, primarily focusing their energy on suppressing their presence there.

In the valley below them, Jin and Touya were standing waiting for Risho, who had was approaching from some distance away, walking towards them at an unhurried pace. Yusuke was painfully aware of the fact that the others around him were tense, though as far as he could remember, Risho had never been a big threat, and he was certainly no cause for concern for eight S-class demons. But, just thinking about how their group contained eight members, Yusuke found his mind drifting back to the message they had discovered. He had never been a fan of messages delivered indirectly, as he preferred to hear a threat or promise come directly from the person issuing it: but he felt as though he had missed something hidden somewhere in the text. He wished Kurama was with them, as surely the shrewd fox demon would have deciphered the code.

Yusuke glanced at Hiei. Hiei was quite clever too, and more knowledgeable about both the Dark Force and subtext in messages, but something stopped him from asking the fire demon's opinion. Something was odd about Hiei, but Yusuke could not quite figure out what it was, only that he thought he really ought not to push the matter, as it was likely to cause Hiei to erupt somehow.

The mazoku turned his attention back to the valley, and tried to stay focused on the scene unfolding below. Risho stopped a short distance in front of Jin and Touya, and they began to talk. They were not so far away that Yusuke could not see their mouths moving, but they were just far enough away that he could not even hear the murmur of their voices, far less make out anything that was being said. It was only when he saw Jin take a distinct step back and Touya and Risho turn their heads towards the point where Yusuke and the others were concealed that he began to suspect something was amiss.

"I don't like where this is going," Shishiwakamaru commented. "Are we sure we can trust Risho?"

"How would he even know what he claims to anyway?" Suzuka added.

"I ain't seen him recently, so I got no idea what he's on about," Chu said.

"What are you guys talking about?" Yusuke asked, looking around them suspiciously.

"Risho told Jin and Touya that he recently met one of us, and he thinks the person he met is acting under the influence of the Dark Force," Rinku explained.

"How the hell do you know that's what he said?" Yusuke asked.

"We were lip-reading," Suzuka replied. "Don't you know how to lip-read?"

"I guess I slept in the day they taught that one," Yusuke muttered.

"Don't worry about it, mate," Chu said. "We all know no-one here has been hanging around any place that loser's been to lately."

"Do we know that?" Shishiwakamaru asked.

"Causing suspicion and distrust is what the Dark Force does!" Rinku said. "Don't fall for it!"

"Well, maybe just to keep us all reassured, we should go around the group," Suzuka suggested. "Obviously neither Jin nor Touya have seen Risho recently, Chu has already said that he hasn't either, and neither have I."

"I haven't seen that loser anywhere since the Dark Tournament, and that was like a century ago!" Rinku frantically replied.

"Hey, calm down, it wasn't that long ago!" Yusuke complained.

"I haven't seen Risho since the Dark Tournament either," Shishiwakamaru offered.

"Yeah, me neither," Yusuke said. "Though to be honest, I doubt I'd even have noticed him if I had. He doesn't exactly have the most unforgettable face in Demon World, if you all know what I'm saying."

"Right," Suzuka said. "So none of us have seen him recently, so we all know confidently now that he's lying."

"He's only half lying. I met him recently, but I assure you all, I'm not weak enough to let something else take control of me."

Yusuke slowly turned to Hiei, something about the tenseness of his features doing little to reassure anyone else in the group.

"You met Risho?" Yusuke asked him. "Why didn't you say so when we first said we were gonna go meet up with him?"

"I didn't think it was significant," Hiei replied. "It's not like Risho is significant."

"Well, he's pretty significant now, wouldn't you agree?" Suzuka said, narrowing his eyes as he regarded Hiei. "So don't you think you should explain to us now how and why you were meeting with him?"

"I don't owe explanations to any of you for anything," Hiei sharply replied.

"Risho could be lying," Rinku pointed out. "How would he even know if he met someone controlled by the Dark Force?"

"He's lucky to be alive if he's been mixing with the Dark Force's puppets," Chu added.

"Jin and Touya seemed to think Risho knew something important," Shishiwakamaru pointed out. "I think Hiei should explain himself."

"I agree," Suzuka said.

"Hey, back off!" Yusuke snapped at them. "Hiei doesn't have to explain anything! The only one who needs to explain himself is this jackass Risho!"

The others grumbled a little between themselves before all standing up from their hiding places and preparing to greet the trio heading up the hillside towards them. As they stood up, side by side, Yusuke put a hand on Hiei's shoulder, drawing his attention.

"Hey Hiei," Yusuke said to him quietly. "Why did you meet up with Risho?"

"I didn't "meet up" with Risho, you idiot!" Hiei growled, shrugging Yusuke's hand from his shoulder. "I merely happened upon him on my patrol route. And it was hardly recently, it was several months ago."

"Okay, that's cool I guess," Yusuke said. "I just wanted to know the facts so that I can back you up if he starts trying to turn everyone else against you."

Hiei gave him a flat look and Yusuke laughed nervously; though deep down, he did still get the distinct impression that there was something quite vital that Hiei was not telling him.

* * *

Kurama slowed to a halt, finding himself once more standing alongside the wall of Genkai's temple that was littered with photographs of the group. Nothing had changed since the last time he had looked at the wall the day before, but, with the sun no longer shining onto the wall from a window at one end of the corridor, he noticed something he had not really been able to see before: there were marks on the wall.

Kurama slowly turned himself fully towards the wall and stepped closer, moving one hand to one of the marks, which existed in between a photograph of Yusuke and Keiko at the beach and a photograph of Shizuru, Keiko and Botan pulling faces at the camera. He let his hand hover over the mark before moving it to the photo of the three girls, frowning slightly as his suspicions were confirmed: the mark on the wall was the same size and shape as a photograph. And, taking a step back again, Kurama noticed several more such marks. They were all photograph-sized stains on the wooden wall, clear marks left because a photograph had been stuck there for some time, affecting how the wood beneath had not been darkened by the sunlight as the uncovered parts of the wall had. Some of the lighter rectangles were faint, but some were quite striking, as though they marked the place of a photograph that had been present for at least ten years.

That, Kurama told himself, was what was missing: the last time he had visited, some months previously, he had walked by the wall without more than glancing at it, as he often had, but even then he had not been aware of the gaps that he could now so obviously see.

Someone had purposefully removed about a sixth of the photographs, and whoever had done so, had done so very recently.

"Oh, hey Kurama."

Kurama moved his eyes to his side to see Kuwabara walking towards him carrying a tattered old shoebox.

"I was just looking at these photographs," Kurama began. "I noticed some were missing."

"Yeah," Kuwabara replied, stopping at Kurama's side and giving the shoebox in his hands a small shake. "Yukina thought it was best we took them down while Hiei was here yesterday. But he's gone now, so we can put them back up, right?"

Kurama gave Kuwabara a questioning look, but his friend failed to notice it, as he had lowered his eyes to the contents of the old shoebox in his hands.

"I'm not sure I understand," Kurama said as Kuwabara lifted a photograph out of the box. "Why would you need to take down photographs of any of us and hide them from Hiei?"

As he pressed the photograph in his hand back onto the wall, Kuwabara gave Kurama an uncharacteristically withering look; and one look at the photograph he was replacing to the wall told Kurama why.

"Yukina didn't want Hiei to see pictures of her wedding?" he asked, pointing at the photograph of Kuwabara and Yukina on their wedding day.

"Yukina doesn't like that her brother chose not be a part of our family," Kuwabara replied, his tone strangely cold. "He chose not to be a part of it, so she didn't think he deserved to see our lives this way."

Kurama opened his mouth to debate the matter, but he stopped short as his eyes fell on the next photograph Kuwabara was replacing.

"It's not like we didn't try to involve him," Kuwabara added.

Yukina was cradling a baby in her arms and Kuwabara was sitting at her side, his arm around her.

"It's like he's ashamed of us all."

The baby, although clearly very young, was peering up at Yukina was enormous red eyes and there was already a noticeable covering of lilac hair on the baby's head.

"When I first heard the truth about the relation, I was shocked."

The next photograph Kuwabara had replaced was a picture of himself, laughing at a child sitting at his side, eating what looked like a lump of coal.

"But then I started wondering why Hiei had never said anything if he knew he was the brother Yukina was looking for all this time."

The child was clearly the same baby from the earlier photograph, as the same pair of red eyes were looking out from his face, and he still had the same pale purple hair, grown into an only slightly longer style.

"When I found out Hiei was an emiko, and about all the things he went through, how his ancestors rejected him for being a freak, I thought he would have understood a little better."

Kurama pushed up the sleeve of his right arm, looking down at the scorch marks on his skin. It was an unmistakeable type of burn and one that he had only ever been on the receiving end of once before.

"But I guess he really is just a bastard."

Kurama looked up at the next photograph, seeing Akira grinning from a position squashed between Yukina and Kuwabara.

"Akira can summon the darkness flame technique because he's an emiko," Kurama concluded aloud.

"Akira doesn't want to fight," Kuwabara replied. "But Koenma said it was the only way he could convince King Enma to let us take the collar off."

Kurama turned sharply to Kuwabara.

"Why is Akira wearing that collar?" he asked.

Kuwabara paused, his eyes lingering on the photograph of Akira smiling.

"Spirit world don't exactly like the kid," he eventually replied. "They've never trusted Akira, or any of us in the family. I think they always wanted a way to subjugate the poor kid, and, after the Dark Force awoke, they used it as an excuse to arrest the kid and put that collar on."

"But that collar restricts the amount of energy the wearer can exert," Kurama pointed out. "With that collar on, it's little wonder a child wouldn't want to fight, every time he tries to access his powers, he will receive damage equivalent to the attack he launches!"

Kuwabara turned to look directly at Kurama, his eyes dark.

"I'm not happy about it either," he said in a low voice.

"But there's one more thing I don't understand!" Kurama added. "If Akira has been a part of your family for so many years, how is it that I've never met him before?"

"I'm sorry Kurama, I don't think Akira wants people talking about why our family has never really been normal," Kuwabara replied. "But maybe you should ask Koenma, or someone in spirit world."

Kurama waited a little longer before turning and quietly leaving Kuwabara to complete his task alone. He continued along the corridor, passing a room where Kaisei and Fubuki were playing cards with each other, and then stopping as he heard voices coming from a room beyond. He crept forwards and peered through the open door, finding Yukina standing facing Akira. Akira had his head down and looked as bleak as he had since the moment Kurama had met him, but Yukina was smiling up at him lovingly as she gently brushed his hair back out of his eyes with an ornate hairbrush.

As Kurama watched the ice maiden mothering the emiko, he wondered if the child had been conceived before or after his parents' marriage: perhaps his conception had been the reason for their sudden marriage. He wondered how it was that the child had remained anonymous to himself and Yusuke; and he wondered if Hiei knew that the kid he had attacked in the woods the day before was in fact his nephew.

Hiei had insisted that the marriage between his sister and Kuwabara did not make him in any way related to Kuwabara: but Kuwabara's son shared a common bloodline with Hiei, and had all of his same powers.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** Risho explains how he can identify someone under the influence of the Dark Force, and then goes on to prove that one member of the team has already been taken over. Back in the living world Kurama has an illuminating conversation with Yukina, but he finds another reason to be suspicious of Akira. **Chapter 6 – The Darkness of Despair**

**A/N:** Worth noting that from the next chapter onwards, the battle gets a bit "gritty" (ie bloody and unpleasant).

Thanks everyone for the reviews, I'm quite surprised people are reading at all, especially given the subject matter and the focus on minor characters and OCs.


	6. Darkness of Despair

**Chapter 6 – Darkness of Despair**

"I suppose you probably remember most of these guys from the Dark Tournament, right Risho?"

Jin smiled optimistically at his former teammate as they joined up with the remainder of the group.

"Not a single one of them," Risho replied, without even bothering to look around the others. "Well, except for that one."

Hiei growled as Risho flicked a hand in his direction as though he was shooing away an irritating insect.

"Yes, perhaps that's something we should discuss," Touya said. "Hiei, Risho mentioned that–"

"We've already covered it," Yusuke interrupted. "Hiei already told us he met Risho while he was out on patrol."

"I see," Risho said, smirking smugly. "And did "Hiei" also tell you exactly where I encountered him?"

"That's irrelevant," Hiei warned him. "I travel all over Demon World during my patrols. My presence at that location isn't suspicious. Your presence there is what was suspicious."

"Yes, but didn't the Border Patrol stop patrolling that particular road about, oh, four years ago?"

Hiei tensed, but did not allow his reaction to show outwardly. It was true that the road he had met Risho on was no longer a part of the Border Patrol's official route – as it had not been since the incident four years ago – and Hiei had been defying orders by travelling along that particular road. However, even after warnings from Mukuro and even Enki himself, Hiei had never stopped travelling along that road at every opportunity he got.

"Is there a particular significance to the road you met Hiei on?" Touya asked.

"Yes," Risho replied, his eyes still on Hiei. "I met him on the road formerly known as High Road."

"That road hasn't been useable for years," Chu pointed out.

"Didn't they close it after it got so badly damaged?" Suzuka asked.

"Yes, I remember that," Shishiwakamaru added. "It's like Risho said, they closed it a little over four years ago. It was part of the patrol route before that though."

"But now the Border Patrol are supposed to use Low Road, like all the rest of us," Risho said.

"Why did nobody ever fix that road?" Rinku asked. "If it was important enough to include it in the Border Patrol route, isn't Low Road too far away to cover any portals to the living world?"

"Nevertheless, the official route for the Border Patrol is now Low Road," Risho insisted.

"Is that true, Hiei?" Yusuke asked.

"The official route of the Border Patrol is not a matter for anyone here to question," Hiei tightly replied. "Maybe this mouthy fool should explain to us why he was traversing a road that is clearly marked as a no-go area."

"Too easy," Risho said. "I can answer that question very simply. But that's probably because I have nothing to hide: King Enki himself asked me, as an Earth Master, to investigate if there was anyway of fixing and reopening the road. I think he thought a project like rebuilding that road might distract the populace from that real problem that was brewing, but I didn't ask questions, he paid me well for my reports."

Yusuke turned to Touya, who gave a small nod of his head.

"That's something we could easily verify, therefore I don't believe it to be a lie," the ice demon said.

"Okay," Yusuke said. "But I've gotta be honest: I don't get what the big deal is. I don't even know where High Road or Low Road is. What difference does it make that Risho and Hiei were there? Risho says he was there because Enki asked him to go there and Hiei said he was there on patrol duty, so that's that, right?"

"Wrong, idiot!" Rinku said.

Yusuke gave him a flat look, but Rinku appeared not to notice.

"It's true that High Road is off limits now," Suzuka said. "But the fact that these two met there a few months ago is hardly cause for concern."

"Right," Chu agreed. "It ain't like they were there the day the road got wrecked."

"There's no chance anyone standing here right now was there the day that road got blown apart," Rinku drawled. "It was already announced on the news that everybody in the surrounding area was killed."

"Well, everyone except for the monster," Shishiwakamaru added.

"The monster?" Risho asked.

Hiei clenched his fists tightly at his side when he noticed that he was the only one who saw through the earth demon's feigned innocence.

"He means the creature that created the blast that destroyed High Road and killed everyone in the surrounding area," Rinku offered.

"Right, who could forget that day?" Jin said. "I thought for sure I was gonna be turned inside out from the shockwave!"

"No kiddin' mate," Chu said. "It felt like an earthquake and I was halfway across Demon World the day it happened!"

"I think it goes without saying that, although obviously none of us were on High Road that day, we all felt the fallout and we can all remember where we were," Touya said.

"Except Risho, apparently," Hiei pointed out.

"And me."

The others all turned to Yusuke.

"I think I'd remember a huge explosion like that," he said.

"You must remember it," Hiei said to him. "How could you not? Even you are not that dense, Yusuke."

"Hey, watch it, shorty!" Yusuke retaliated. "But no, I don't remember it, when did it happen?"

Rinku started to recite the date to Yusuke – it was, after all, a date that had become quite infamous in Demon World history already – but Hiei quickly spoke over him.

"It's pointless telling Yusuke a date," he said.

"Why would you say that?" Risho asked, still looking at Hiei in that condescending and vaguely accusatory way that Hiei despised so passionately.

"Because Yusuke can't remember a date or where he was on any specific day," Hiei smoothly replied.

"Really?" Risho asked. "Because it seems more like you're trying to distract us all from talking about it. If Yusuke can't remember it, then obviously he wasn't even in Demon World that day."

"If this thing was such a big deal, even if I hadn't been in Demon World the day it happened, someone would have told me about it when I got back here," Yusuke said.

"Maybe someone did tell you about it, but you forgot, because, as you weren't here to feel it, you probably didn't think it sounded like a big deal," Shishiwakamaru suggested.

Yusuke looked around the others before finally turning to Hiei.

"Is this road explosion a big deal, Hiei?" he asked.

"It was a minor incident that everyone has exaggerated," Hiei replied.

"Felt pretty major to me," Chu muttered. "Don't reckon I've ever felt a power like that before."

"And of course, the general consensus in Demon World now is that the explosion and power surge we all felt that day was what awoke the Dark Force," Risho commented, sounding far too casual about it for Hiei's liking.

"Wait, didn't you say the road was wrecked four years ago?" Yusuke asked.

"Yeah, but everybody thinks it's taken four years for the Dark Force to rise up to the point it has now," Rinku said.

"That would be about correct," Touya confirmed. "From the time when the spell is broken to the soul escaping the imprisonment is typically a period of a few years. I believe last time it took just under three years to get to this point, but this time, as the Dark Force was awoken early, it has perhaps taken a little longer for the soul to break free entirely."

"I thought the Demon World Tournament was what woke the Dark Force up early?" Yusuke asked.

"That was an ingredient in its early awakening, yes," Touya replied. "But the catalyst, the one single thing that started the process, was the day High Road was destroyed."

"We're wasting time talking about something insignificant that has long since past," Hiei argued.

"If it's so insignificant, why do you still patrol that now forbidden section of road?" Risho asked.

Hiei bit back the urge to punch him in the face.

"But you're quite right: what's done is done," Risho said. "There's no point arguing over what exactly started this Dark Age, it's far more important now to put a stop to it. And we should start by weeding out all of the Dark Force's puppets."

"That's what we called you for, Risho," Jin said.

"I have a way of quickly and effectively picking out who has and has not fallen victim to the Dark Force," Risho said.

"Sounds interesting," Yusuke said.

Risho smiled in a way that made Hiei feel nauseous.

"Then follow me," Risho said.

The group all began to follow Risho, but Hiei held back, joining at the back and remaining a few steps behind the others. It was the first time he had heard anyone propose the theory that the same force that had destroyed High Road had also awoken the Dark Force, and he desperately hoped that it was only a theory, as if it turned out to be fact, the times ahead could be even more complicated than he had at first expected them to.

* * *

"The fifteenth of June, four years ago?" Kurama asked.

"Yes," Yukina replied. "You didn't feel it because you were here in the living world."

"Yes, I suppose I would have been," Kurama agreed. "Outside of when there is a tournament on, I rarely visit Demon World. It does seem odd that neither Yusuke nor Hiei have mentioned it to me though."

"Yusuke was here in the living world too that day," Yukina said.

"I see..."

Yukina started to walk away and, unsure if he was meant to or not, Kurama followed her. She duly led him to the corridor in the temple where the photographs adorned one wall, and she pointed at a photograph of a group of people in a bar. Kurama smiled and nodded as he recognised both the moment and the time the photo had been taken.

"Yes, I remember that day," he said. "Yusuke's mother told us she was celebrating her fortieth birthday; though I suspect that may not have been the truth. Either way, I believe I ended up spending most of the day in that bar with Yusuke and his mother, and afterwards I carried her home for him."

Kurama turned to Yukina, who was giving him an odd look. Assuming that he understood why, he qualified his last words.

"By closing time, Yusuke was a little tipsy himself, and, much as he promised he wouldn't, I didn't entirely trust him not to drop her en route," he explained.

Yukina's expression did not change, and as the darkened look on her eyes and odd angle of her mouth was not a look Kurama had ever seen on her face before, he began to think that he had missed something in her earlier explanation.

"So that would account for why neither Yusuke nor I felt the power surge you mentioned in Demon World that day," he said carefully.

When Yukina's expression still did not lighten any, Kurama turned his attention back to the photograph she had pointed him towards.

"I believe Keiko took that photo," he commented. "She was the one who made Yusuke go there because he has been intending to return to Demon World, but Keiko insisted he stay another day and celebrate his mother's birthday. The celebrations started at Keiko's house and progressed on to the bar, but Keiko didn't stay as long as we did at the bar, I believe she left to return home at a reasonable hour."

Kurama glanced at Yukina, finding her expression still unchanged. He was starting to feel as though she was somehow accusing him of something, but he could not imagine what.

"I thought Yusuke should have walked her home," he added. "I think they may have argued over that point the following day. They were arguing when I went to see Yusuke, and so I decided to visit Kuwabara instead. I thought that once they had finished arguing, they would join me; but Yusuke returned to Demon World and Keiko vanished."

Kurama slowly turned to Yukina, the look on her face no longer bothering him.

"Kuwabara was alone that day," he said. "He seemed distant, but he seemed unwilling to say why. Where were you that day, Yukina?"

Yukina's face lightened – though only slightly – and, without moving her eyes from Kurama, she pointed at another picture on the wall.

"They share the same birthday," she said, her voice strangely distant as she spoke.

Kurama looked over at the photograph her small finger was touching one edge of, and he found himself relaxing a little as he saw the remainder of his friends at what looked like a children's birthday party; though when he noticed Yukina herself was absent from the picture, he turned to her again.

"I took the photo," she said, as though having anticipated his next question.

Kurama nodded. Between the photograph taken at the bar and the one Yukina was pointing to, the presence of everyone that day in the living world had been confirmed: the only faces missing and unaccounted for were Hiei and Koenma. It was not unusual for either to not attend a social gathering in the living world, but it did leave the matter of their actual location that day up for speculation. Kurama was almost certain that Koenma would have passed the day much the same as any other: doubtlessly stamping his way through mountains of paperwork.

However, Hiei must surely have been in Demon World that day, and he probably also would have been working a patrol route: therefore Hiei must have felt the unusual aura that Yukina had spoken of.

"I think this is something we should address as a group," Kurama concluded. "I wonder why Koenma didn't mention it before now: surely this is a significant event? It seems this event in Demon World occurred around the time Kuwabara began his preparations for the Dark Age. Are you saying Kuwabara felt this event, even from here in the living world?"

"Kazuma got a bad feeling when it happened," Yukina replied. "Koenma told us that was the moment the spell holding the Dark Force contained was broken. He said that day was the start of the Dark Age."

"Theoretically, I suppose that is possible," Kurama agreed. "The spell would have been weakened by the events in Demon World prior to that – the instigation of the Demon World Tournament and the subsequent increase in the number of A and S-class demons – but something like what you described would surely be the final ingredient needed to awaken the Dark Force. The pressing question now is how the Dark Force interpreted that aura: was that the aura of the being the Dark Force will ally itself with or was that the aura of the being who will be our saviour?"

Kurama turned to Yukina, but found that her expression had darkened over again.

"It was a terrible day," she said quietly. "One that I wish I could undo."

Kurama nodded.

"Of course," he said. "But as it is, we should try to understand as much about what happened in Demon World that day as possible. Excuse me."

Kurama stepped away from the wall and started to leave, but paused after a few steps when Yukina spoke again.

"You're wasting your time," she said. "Koenma won't answer your questions honestly."

Kurama glanced back over his shoulder at the ice maiden, finding her still standing where he had left her, facing away from the direction he had taken off in. Perhaps Koenma had not answered her questions, he thought, but the prince of Spirit World was obliged to disclose any information he had to the team he had assembled to combat the rise of the latest Dark Age, and so Kurama carried on, taking himself to a remote location to initiate the call he needed to make to Spirit World.

Finding a remote location took a little longer than he expected it to however and Kurama eventually found that the only remote location where he could make the call without being overheard was at the end of the temple gardens, by the temple gate itself. He paused by one leg of the gate, listening and feeling for any trace of anyone who might be nearby. Once he was sure that he was alone, he reached a hand into his shirt pocket and retrieved the communication mirror Koenma had given him. He flipped it open and at the exact moment that it clicked into place, something landed on the grass behind him.

Kurama spun around, feeling relieved but curious to see Akira crouching on the ground, once more covered from head to toe in black clothing.

"Is that a communication device from Spirit World?" he asked as he stood up.

Kurama turned fully towards Akira, watching with a vague sense of amusement as the boy's eyes grew large and fixed onto the communication mirror in his hand.

"This thing?" Kurama asked, moving his hand slightly and smiling softly as curious red eyes followed the communicator's every movement. "Yes it is."

"Give it to me."

Akira had spoken so quietly, at first Kurama was sure that he had misheard.

"Please," the little ninja added, looking up directly into Kurama's eyes.

Kurama looked at the communicator and then down at the determined eyes staring up at him.

"Do you know what this device is?" he asked. "Do you even understand what it does?"

"It's a communicator," Akira replied. "I've never used one before, but I've seen other people use them, and I'm sure I can figure it out."

"This device has only one purpose," Kurama explained. "It can only be used as a means of communicating with someone who also holds one of these devices, or else it can be used to communicate with Koenma's office. Are either of those things you seek to do?"

Akira's eyes narrowed slightly, but he held out an upturned hand.

"Just hand it over," he said quietly. "And do me a favour: don't tell anyone about this, okay?"

Kurama sensed that there was probably a significant reason why Akira did not already have a communicator – after all, all the fighters had one, even Hiei and the Sato siblings each had one – but the circumstance seemed like a good opportunity to encourage the flighty emiko to trust him a little better and to find out if he could push past Akira's reservations about fighting.

"Then let's make a deal, shall we?" Kurama offered. "I'll let you have this communication mirror, I'll show you how to use it and I won't tell anyone that you have it."

"Good," Akira said, nodding his head. "Thanks, Kurama."

He reached out to take the communicator, but Kurama moved it out of his reach.

"But first, you have to take it from me," he added.

Akira made to reach for the device again, but Kurama swiftly snapped it shut and returned it to his shirt pocket. He moved his hands behind his back and arched his eyebrows expectantly.

"Are you saying I have to fight you for it?" Akira asked.

"I'm saying you have to take it from me by force," Kurama replied.

"Because I won't hold back," Akira warned in a low voice.

"I hope you mean that."

Kurama thought that Akira was probably just extemporising idle threats in the hope of forcing his hand; but he was quickly proven wrong when, in a blur of motion that even Hiei would have begrudgingly been impressed by, his shirt pocket was ripped from his shirt and the communicator became airborne. Akira had one hand on the shirt pocket he had just torn off and he reached the other hand towards the communication mirror, but Kurama had recovered from his initial shock, and he leaned back out of Akira's reach, catching the mirror in one hand and swinging the other hand around to deliver a chop to the small of Akira's back.

Kurama edged back two steps when Akira found his feet again. As their eyes met, Kurama slipped his hands into his hair just long enough to conceal the mirror, before bringing them around and holding them up in front of Akira.

"Are you asking me to stop?" Akira asked. "Because you said I could have the communicator if I took it by force, you never stipulated that I had to get it on my first try."

Kurama suppressed a smile: it appeared that, when the motivation was strong enough at least, that the kid could eventually be coerced into combat.

"Keep trying as long as you can," Kurama replied. "We won't stop until you get the communication mirror or you declare that you give up."

Akira nodded and promptly launched himself at Kurama again. Upon blocking a punch with his forearm and being left with a sensation that warned he would bruise later, Kurama again wondered why Akira did not already have a communication mirror and why he wanted one so badly. He skipped over an attempt at a leg sweep, and, for an instant afterwards, he lost track of where the emiko had gone. A moment later he felt a weight drop onto his back and he effortlessly reached a hand over his shoulder, pulling Akira from his back and throwing him across the lawn.

"I'm a former thief, don't think I don't know every trick to steal something from someone and how to counter it," Kurama advised as Akira leapt to his feet again.

He looked unbelievably determined, and, after a few more moments of parrying surprisingly brutal attacks, Kurama aimed an uppercut at Akira, who leaned back slightly too late. Kurama's elbow cracked into Akira's chin and he fell back, but he landed in a crouch in front of Kurama, none of the determination gone from his eyes. A look briefly brightened his eyes, as though an idea had occurred to him, and in the blink of an eye, he vanished.

Kurama tried to locate which direction Akira had moved in. He knew the kid was not giving up, and, given his apparent preference for stealth tactics, he was no doubt going to try to launch a surprise attack, and probably from behind, in another vain attempt to steal the communicator for Kurama's hair. However, thanks to the Spirit World collar suppressing his demon energy, it was almost impossible to detect Akira when he put even the slightest of effort into concealing his aura. Kurama silently wondered if Akira knew as much and was using what was otherwise a major disability to his advantage.

Whatever the case was, Kurama only caught a hint of Akira's aura at the same instant he once more landed on his back; but this time, Akira did not use the same approach he had before, as he had bent one arm around Kurama's neck, his other hand pushing the back of Kurama's head further into the crook of his elbow. Kurama resisted the instinct to shake off the move, instead moving his eyes to the determined eyes glaring down at him from his left shoulder.

"What are you going to do now?" he asked, his voice strained against the chokehold he was in.

"As soon as you pass out, I'm taking the communicator," Akira replied.

"You could break my neck in this position," Kurama pointed out.

"I could," Akira agree, with an alarming degree of calm for such a young child.

"Would you break my neck if that was the only way you could get the communication mirror?"

"Hmm... No. I don't have any problem choking you into unconsciousness though."

"You took a long time to answer."

"I was considering the question."

"You were considering killing me over a telephone?"

"It's important to me."

"In that case, I shouldn't have made a game of this."

"I wish you hadn't."

"Alright. I'll be serious from now on."

Kurama reached both hands over his shoulders and grabbed handfuls of Akira's outfit before once more throwing him across the lawn. This time, he noticed that it required significantly more effort to tear the boy off his back, and he had to admit that he had come dangerously close to passing out just as the emiko had planned. Seeing Akira rise to his feet and clench his fists at his sides with no less determination in his eyes, Kurama did not hesitate to draw out his Rose Whip. The last time he had drawn the weapon around Akira, the emiko had looked back at him with dull and listless eyes and dodged the attacks with less speed and agility than he had demonstrated he was capable of in the past few minutes; but this time his eyes were bright and focused and, despite the visible and audible crackling complaint from the energy-suppressing collar, his right hand began to glow as it had when Kurama had threatened to remove the collar earlier that day.

Kurama raised his hand and weapon slightly and the ball of energy around Akira's fist grew into a flare of darkness flame. Kurama moved into an attack stance and Akira swiped his hand through the air, the flames around his fist lengthening into a blade-like shape. Mildly impressed that the boy could summon such a weapon in his current state, Kurama began lashing with his whip, a few black blurs telling him that Akira was dodging the attacks. He thought that Akira had summoned the blade of the mortal flame under the assumption that it would cut through the Rose Whip: Kurama knew otherwise, and he knew that the moment the emiko tried to enact his plan, he would be caught out, and the scuffle would be over.

And so Kurama was genuinely surprised when Akira ignored the Rose Whip entirely, instead slashing the blade of flames at Kurama's throat.

Without hesitation, Akira grabbed the front of Kurama's shirt, which he had torn open with his attack, and tugged forwards, smashing his forehead against Kurama's nose. In the momentary lapse of concentration on Kurama's part – he was stunned both by the direction the battle had taken and the blow to his nose – Akira grabbed a hand at Kurama's hair, tearing loose both the communication mirror and several strands of hair in the process. Kurama quickly grabbed the front of Akira's outfit to halt his escape, but the emiko kicked at his gut and kneed him in the stomach before gripping his still flaming hand around Kurama's arm. One instinct Kurama released his hold, and before the burn to his arm had even stopped sizzling, Akira had fled beyond detectable range.

Kurama slowly retracted and restored his weapon.

"I had no idea you wanted it that badly," he called out, assuming that Akira was probably still somewhere within earshot. "I will still honour my promise to show you how it's done, but you will need to come to me."

"Not that I'm not flattered fox boy, but you're really not my type."

Kurama spun around and found Shizuru smirking at him as she reached the top of the temple steps carrying a bag of groceries.

"That wasn't what it sounded like," Kurama replied, smiling nervously.

Shizuru shrugged.

"Yeah, I saw the little tet-a-tet you were involved in on my way up here," she said.

Kurama frowned as the sound of muffled giggling from high up in the nearby trees reached his ears.

"Yeah, I thought you'd like that one," Shizuru called up towards a specific tree.

Kurama looked in the direction she had spoken, seeing the barely visible form of Akira, high in the branches.

"Hey, I was gonna make beef gyouza for dinner," Shizuru called up to him. "Will you come inside for that?"

"No," Akira called back. "I don't like beef gyouza. It tastes like mouldy moths."

Shizuru's face fell.

"Kids these days, right Kurama?" she said to Kurama.

"One has to wonder how Akira knows what mouldy moths taste like..." Kurama replied.

"The kid is just the fussiest eater in all three worlds," Shizuru said. "Hey Tet, will you come down if I make you sticky pork?"

"You're the best, Aunty Shizuru!"

Shizuru smiled at Kurama and then continued on her way towards the temple. Kurama paused just long enough to consider two things before following her in: Akira calling Shizuru his aunt only confirmed that he was Kuwabara's child and, despite the two apparently being close, Akira had, in a movement that would have been too fast for Shizuru's human eyes – but had not escaped Kurama's keen notice – hidden the communication mirror from Shizuru.

* * *

Yusuke, with hands in his pockets and an unimpressed look on his face, leaned down and peered into the hole in the rock face. Even from that angle, he failed to see what Risho was referring to, but the others around him seemed to believe it, and as he had already been shown up to know nothing about Demon World matters several times during the past few days, he kept quiet about his scepticism.

"Why do they call it the Mouth of Truth?" Chu asked.

"The legend goes that anyone who tells a lie while their hand is inside the hole will have their hand bitten off," Suzuka replied.

"I thought it was just that: a legend," Shishiwakamaru said.

"Doesn't anyone think it's suspicious that it's made of rock?" Rinku asked. "Especially when the guy who took us here is an Earth Master?"

Risho smiled condescendingly at Rinku.

"This rock has been here for many centuries," Touya said. "It was here long before Risho was even born: we have no reason to suspect foul play."

"Okay, but even if he didn't make the rock, he could still control it, right?" Rinku pressed. "Like he could make it bite someone's hand off if he was going out of his way to make someone look guilty, right?"

"Maybe you should watch your words, boy," Risho warned Rinku. "Because right now, all your blabbering is making you sound as though you have something to hide."

"I don't have anything to hide," Rinku argued back. "I was screened by Spirit World to join this team, you're the one who appeared out of nowhere and started telling us we needed to prove ourselves using some stupid rock!"

"You would surely be able to sense if I was using my demon energy to control the rock, so why not let me demonstrate first hand that I'm not playing any sort of game?" Risho replied.

Yusuke drew in a deep breath as Risho stepped forwards and slid one hand into the hole in the rock face.

"I, Risho the Earth Master, have not been consumed by the Dark Force," he said.

He gasped and looked momentarily shocked, and Yusuke took a distinct step back. He glanced down at Hiei, who merely shook his head, looking bored by the whole affair. As he turned back to Risho again, Yusuke saw the Earth Master withdraw his hand and hold it up with another smirk, turning his hand in the air to show that it was unharmed.

"Anyone else with nothing to hide should feel free to follow my lead," he said, casting an accusing glare at Hiei.

Yusuke was certain that Hiei was not aligned with the enemy they were all united to fight against.

Although some of the comments Hiei had made when they had met outside the tournament arena had implied otherwise.

He was not very suspicious of Hiei.

It was unlikely that Hiei would be controlled without choosing to be.

"I ain't got nothing to hide," Chu said confidently, pushing his hand into the hole. "I, Chu, ain't been consumed by the Dark Force or any other force for that matter."

He paused before withdrawing his hand again, turning it in the air and studying it with his own eyes before nodding his head and grinning at the others.

"Not guilty!" he said cheerfully.

"I have nothing to hide either – for once," Suzuka said, stepping up to the rock face and slipping his hand in. "I, Suzuka the beautiful, have not been consumed by the Dark Force."

Yusuke nodded when Suzuka withdrew his hand and showed the others that it was unharmed. Shishiwakamaru approached the Mouth of Truth next, and placed his hand inside the mouth.

"I, Shishiwakamaru, have not been consumed by the Dark Force," he said.

As he too showed off the proof of his innocence, Risho turned to Rinku, who was glaring at him darkly.

"If you really do have nothing to hide, you will go next," Risho told him.

"Actually, I was just about to put a stop to this charade," Rinku replied, narrowing his eyes. "Can't anybody else here see how he's tricking you all?"

Yusuke looked around the others, feeling relieved to find them all looking as perplexed as he felt.

"Think about it!" Rinku insisted. "What does any of us saying we're not "consumed by the Dark Force" actually prove?"

"It proves we're not consumed by the Dark Force," Jin replied, giving Rinku a slightly sceptical look.

"Exactly!" Rinku said.

"Right," Yusuke said. "Isn't that why we're here at this dumb rock?"

"No!" Rinku said.

"What?" Yusuke echoed. "Seriously, what the hell is going on?"

"Didn't we come here to prove that none of us are aligned with the Dark Force in any way?" Rinku asked. "We all know the Dark Force isn't strong enough to actually consume anyone present here, so it's pointless saying we're "not consumed", because obviously none of us are! But that doesn't mean someone who's already passed the "test" isn't being controlled by or has just chosen to work for the Dark Force!"

"That's an interesting argument," Touya agreed.

"I can't believe I'm the only one who saw it!" Rinku cried. "And why aren't any of you now as outraged as I am?"

"Volatile, fluctuating emotions are often a sign of the influence of the Dark Force," Risho casually commented.

"I'm so sick of you, you smug son of a bitch!" Rinku snapped back. "I don't have anything to hide from anyone, and I'm gonna prove that right here, right now!"

Rinku marched up to the Mouth of Truth and pushed his hand into it, turning to look around the others with unwavering confidence.

"I'm not consumed by the Dark Force, I'm not controlled by the Dark Force and I'm not allied with the Dark Force in any way at all!" he declared.

When Rinku did not then immediately recover his hand as the others had to verify his truthfulness, Yusuke cast a quick glance around the others. Touya and Jin looked vaguely concerned, Shishiwakamaru and Suzuka looked slightly confused, Chu looked surprised, Risho looked vindicated and Hiei looked like he was readying himself to kill someone.

Then, as Yusuke turned back to Rinku, he slowly withdrew his hand and held it up in front of his face, the look on his face a fair reflection of how Yusuke himself felt in that moment.

The sound of Hiei slowly drawing out his sword was almost painful in the silence that followed, the sound of the sharpened metal blade dragging against the dull metal interior of the sheath lending a grating apprehension to the already tense atmosphere.

"What the hell just happened?" Suzuka asked, his voice quiet and low, his tone so altered Yusuke's ears barely recognised it.

"No..." Rinku said, shaking his head slightly. "No, this isn't right... There's been a mistake, this isn't right!"

"Though it does explain a lot," Risho said.

Rinku slowly lifted his eyes from the bloody remains of his hand – he had lost all four fingers, half of his palm and most of his thumb – to look over at Risho. His eyes and mouth were wide with shock, but Risho was unmoved by his reaction.

"The way you were behaving was simply too much," the Earth Master said. "Your guilt was obvious."

"Wait just a second there mate," Chu said. "Rinku ain't the enemy here. There's been some sorta mistake."

"While you were all kowtowing to the powers that be in sprit world, the influence of the Dark Force spread and grew quite rapidly," Risho replied. "Rinku isn't your only problem either, he isn't the only traitor amongst you."

Yusuke looked around the others again and found them all reeling in shock; all except Hiei, who was reaffirming his grip on his sword as he began to bare his teeth.

"Things are quiet around here because the Dark Force has focused all of its energy into completely consuming an S-class demon," Risho continued. "The only logical solution here is to kill the host body: do that successfully, and you destroy the Dark Force once and for all."

"Are you suggesting that we now kill Rinku?" Shishiwakamaru asked.

"I'm advising you to do exactly that," Risho replied. "Because if you don't, he will turn on you or else flee and spread the influence of the Dark Force even further still. It would be very unwise to leave an S-class demon host body wandering free."

"Absolutely no way, asshole!" Yusuke protested. "Your head must be made outta rock if you think we'd all turn around and kill one of our friends just because of some stupid lump of stone!"

"I don't understand why it ate his hand..." Suzuka said slowly. "That really shouldn't have happened…"

"It happened because he is consumed by the Dark Force," Risho replied.

"No..." Rinku said faintly.

"He says no, and that's good enough for me," Yusuke said to Risho.

"If you are so naive, I hope, for the sake of your friends here, that you're not the one in charge..." Risho muttered.

Yusuke growled and bared his teeth as his patience began to wear thin. He had never liked Risho, and his vague suspicion that the bastard wanted something from the group was rapidly turning into an outright belief that he was trying to sabotage their efforts somehow.

"Come over here and say that to my face, asshole," Yusuke challenged Risho. "And don't even look at Rinku: he's one of us, you're the one that's come in here causing trouble, not him."

"Yusuke, mind your words."

Yusuke lost a little of his ire as he turned to Touya, finding the Ice Master watching him through a particularly intense glare.

"Huh?" Yusuke grunted.

"We have all just received proof that one of our group may have already been infiltrated by the enemy we were brought together and sent here to overthrow," Touya explained. "Your denial without first further investigation and your willingness to condemn the one who levied the seemingly valid accusation all make it seem as though you too may have something to hide."

Yusuke choked on empty air.

"What the hell?" he yelped. "Are you saying you think I'm a puppet to this Dark Force asshole too?"

"You are being incredibly defensive," Touya calmly replied.

"This bastard is talking about killing one of our friends!" Yusuke pointed out. "Doesn't that bother you?"

"We need to all calm down and consider this situation seriously from both sides," Touya replied.

"Well for the record, I'm with Yusuke one hundred percent on this one," Chu offered.

"Yeah, thank you!" Yusuke said.

"We can't just kill someone because there's a minute chance they might be consumed by the Dark Force," Chu added.

"Right, we gotta find another way to deal with this," Yusuke said. "And that's even if Rinku is affected – which we still don't know for sure that he is – so let's all stop talking about killing each other, got it?"

Chu nodded, and Yusuke began looking around the others to gauge their reactions. Touya still looked tense, Jin and Suzuka looked unsure and Shishiwakamaru looked worried. As Yusuke turned to Hiei to gauge his reaction he felt and heard a displacement of air that was almost undetectable, so sudden did it occur and so quickly was it over. Yusuke's eyes widened, his jaw dropped and his breath stilled in his lungs as Rinku's head hit the ground in the centre of the group, rolling twice before stopping, face down.

Yusuke slowly turned again to Hiei, who was standing perfectly still, his expression impassive, his right hand still clutched around his katana, holding it pointed down at his side, Rinku's blood slipping down the length of the blade and dripping from the tip.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** Keiko argues the selection process for who should be allowed into the safe house, Yusuke struggles to come to terms with what Hiei has done, Shishiwakamaru makes a surprising discovery and Koenma and Botan have a disagreement about life after the Dark Age. **Chapter 7 – Never the Same**

**A/N: **I'm going to go ahead and say I don't like deaths that don't mean anything (like in DBZ, where everyone dies all the time and then is just brought right back to life), so you can assume that anyone who dies in this fic will remain dead (although there may be one or two exceptions to this much later in the plot). I guess what I'm saying is Hiei totally did just kill Rinku dead. That's a very real thing.


	7. Never the Same

**Chapter 7 – Never the Same**

"I can't believe you! I thought you, out of everybody involved, would have been a little more understanding!"

Kuwabara smiled awkwardly in what Keiko thought was probably meant to be an endearing gesture, delivered in the hope of soothing her nerves.

"It's bad enough I have to walk away from my job during term time with no explanation to the teaching board, but how am I supposed to explain this to my parents: and how can you even expect me to leave my parents behind in all of this?" she said as she slapped her suitcase off the sofa.

"You know Keiko, me and Shizuru had to leave our dad behind in all of this too," Kuwabara meekly replied. "And Urameshi had to leave his mom and Kurama had to leave his stepdad and his stepbrother, and–"

"I know I'm not the only one leaving someone behind," Keiko interrupted him. "But that's why I thought you'd be more sympathetic. It's just really difficult seeing Kaisei and Fubuki getting to have their whole family there when I have to walk away from mine. The last conversation I had with my parents was a horrible fight because they're mad that I've abandoned my job for no apparent reason. That might be the last ever conversation I have with them: how do you think that makes me feel?"

"Pretty rotten, I guess," Kuwabara replied, looking increasingly humbled.

"I don't get why we can't take our families," Keiko began. "After all, it's not like there isn't room for them all at Genkai's temple."

Keiko knew that there was one thing she excelled at above all else: arguing with someone until they unequivocally agreed with her viewpoint. And she was certain she could convince Kuwabara that more people could be brought to the so-called "safe house".

"My mom and dad, your dad, Urameshi's mom, Kurama's stepdad and stepbrother," she continued. "It's not like all the allotted places Koenma created were even used, right? You asked for Yukina, and she was already assigned a place, Hiei didn't ask for anyone and Akira's mom was obviously already designated a place, so that's three places right there that are free."

"I asked for Shizuru," Kuwabara pointed out. "Yukina only got a place because Akira asked for her and Hiei did actually ask for someone, apparently."

"I thought Yukina was put there by Koenma to look after healing the injured fighters?" Keiko asked.

"Koenma said he let Yukina stay there because Akira asked for her," Kuwabara replied.

"Maybe Koenma just said that to stop Akira from asking for someone else," Keiko suggested.

"Maybe, yeah."

"And, did you say Hiei asked for someone? I'm pretty sure Yusuke said Hiei's space was free."

"Well, yeah, Hiei's space is free because Koenma wouldn't let him have who he asked for."

"Pfft, so it was someone from Demon World, right? What, has he found himself a girlfriend now or something?"

Kuwabara gave Keiko a strange look and all her thoughts of arguing with him about the rules of the safe house left her mind in an instant.

"You don't mean he actually asked for...?" she asked quietly.

Kuwabara nodded solemnly and Keiko clenched her fists at her sides in anger.

"So he'll ask for her to be kept at the safe house, but he can't be bothered to even make the time to talk to her for all these years?" she snapped.

"Pretty much," Kuwabara said. "I thought Hiei had a sense of honour and loyalty, but I guess my very first impression of him – as a dirty rotten sneaky traitor – was right all along."

"Does she know he asked for her?" Keiko asked. "And if he did ask for her, when is she moving there?"

Kuwabara shook his head again and Keiko again forgot why she had been arguing with him only minutes earlier.

"Koenma said she can't leave spirit world," he explained. "He said if spirit world falls, she'll be allowed to stay in the safe house as Hiei's choice, but until that happens, she has to stay in spirit world."

Keiko pouted and folded her arms.

"You know he's just saying that to keep them apart, right?" she said.

Kuwabara nodded.

"Someone should say something," Keiko suggested.

Kuwabara stared blankly back at her. She waited for him to acknowledge that she was implying he ought to be the one to intervene, but when he did not change his expression or stance for several seconds, her patience began to wane.

"Kuwabara, you should say something!" she said.

"I can't, Keiko," he said. "Last week Botan made me promise not to interfere with Hiei and... You know..."

Keiko heaved a sigh as she bent down to retrieve her suitcase.

"But Urameshi's running things in Demon World, right?" Kuwabara said as she lifted her suitcase back onto the sofa and opened it up again. "He won't let the problem get any worse, and when it's all over, maybe we can fix everything with them then."

"Yusuke is running things in demon world, yeah," Keiko said. "But isn't Hiei at his side?"

"I don't think Hiei wants to hinder our efforts to stop the Dark Age," Kuwabara replied.

"I don't know about that..." Keiko muttered under her breath.

* * *

Hiei lifted his sword and then brought it down sharply, flicking off the excess blood from the blade, before wiping the remainder off on his cloak and then returning his weapon to its sheath.

"Hiei?" Yusuke said, his voice edgy and higher in pitch than usual. "What the hell did you just do?"

"I did what needed to be done," Hiei plainly replied. "I did what none of the rest of you had the sense or courage to do: I dealt with the problem. If you have such proof in front of you that anyone is under the influence of the Dark Force the correct response is to kill them without hesitation. If any of the rest of you show such obvious signs of guilt, I will do the same again, and again without hesitating. And I expect any of you to kill me just as swiftly and efficiently if I fall victim to the Dark Force. It's the only way to deal with this situation."

"He's right, you know," Risho agreed. "But as he has yet to prove his own innocence, I have to wonder if Hiei isn't just acting this way to detract attention away from his own guilt."

"Like I said, if you believe me to be guilty, feel free to try to kill me," Hiei shot back. "But even though you've proved you're not under the direct influence of the enemy, you haven't yet told us how it is that you became an expert on the subject or how you found out that we had been assembled by spirit world to suppress the Dark Force's influence."

"The first thing we should focus on is whether or not killing Rinku has had any influence on the chaos in the rest of Demon world," Risho suggested.

"Hn, changing the subject so quickly?" Hiei responded.

"Is he – is he really dead?" Suzuka said.

"Damn it, we can still bring him back!" Yusuke said, dropping to his knees by Rinku's fallen body.

"Hiei took off his head, I don't think there's much anyone here can do for him," Shishiwakamaru said.

"Yusuke, don't waste your life energy trying to revive him!" Touya said urgently.

Hiei reluctantly shifted his attention from Risho to Yusuke, finding him kicking and cursing as Touya and Jin each grabbed one of his arms and dragged him away from Rinku.

"Touya's right, y'know Yusuke," Jin said. "If you go givin' all your energy to Rinku, the both of you will be too weak to fight."

"Yes, that's my point exactly," Touya added. "You voluntarily weakening yourself is like us handing the Dark Force another of our allies. This could all be a ruse designed by our enemy to force you into that exact situation. If you donate your life energy and revive him, he will still not have his head and you will be weak enough for the Dark Force to consume effortlessly."

Chu started to step forwards, but Suzuka and Shishiwakamaru both stepped into his path.

"What they're saying makes sense," Shishiwakamaru said.

"So you shouldn't go giving up all of your life energy either, big guy," Suzuka said.

"I can't believe you just killed him, Hiei!" Yusuke yelled, his eyes moving to Hiei as he spoke. "You didn't even let us finish working out what we wanted to do!"

"There was nothing left to be worked out," Hiei stiffly answered him. "If you have proof that–"

"You didn't even let him tell us his side of the story!" Yusuke interrupted him.

"Under the influence of the Dark Force, anything he said wouldn't have been his own words," Hiei plainly replied.

"There's gotta be another way!" Yusuke stubbornly argued.

"Killing the host body weakens – or, in the case where there is only one, consumed, host body, destroys – the Dark Force. What part of that don't you understand?"

"We should have at least heard him out! But if what you said is true, if killing him stopped the Dark Force's influence on him, then we can revive him and he'll be fine and no longer affected, right?"

"Yusuke, pull yourself together."

Yusuke stared dumbly back at Hiei, who then realised that there would be no reasoning with the Mazoku in his current state of mind.

"It's unlikely the Dark Force was strong enough to have consumed a demon of Rinku's class," Hiei said instead, addressing the others in the hope that the majority would take heed of his words. "He was probably just controlled. Either way, his death should have made a significant impact on the Dark Force's current power levels and influence, as it must have used a lot of energy to take control of Rinku, and it probably had most of its essence invested in him. I suggest we return to Yomi's temple and investigate the earlier disturbance we heard there – we may find clues as to where else the Dark Force is residing or who else it may have control over."

"Just like that?" Yusuke asked in a low voice.

"That does sound like the most sensible course of action," Touya said.

"Maybe we can catch the rest of those affected," Suzuka said. "We might be able to actually stop this Dark Age before it really gets a hold of Demon World."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Shishiwakamaru said. "There's chaos all over Demon World, and nothing feels any different since Rinku's death. I don't think we're anywhere close to ending this."

"But what about Rinku?" Chu asked. "Are you all just gonna walk away and forget that we just killed him for no reason?"

"It wasn't for no reason, you fool!" Hiei snapped.

"If nobody's gonna let me revive him, we should at least give him a proper funeral," Yusuke insisted.

Hiei gave a very slight roll of his eyes, but the gesture did not go unnoticed by Yusuke.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Hiei?" he roared. "You've never been the same since you moved back here to Demon World. What, were you faking everything when you were stuck in the living world? Is this the real you now? An asshole who kills a friend and then doesn't care about it?"

"As soon as someone has been consumed by the Dark Force, and usually also even when they are just controlled, that person is a lethal enemy," Hiei replied as patiently as he could. "Why are you making this so personal?"

Yusuke glared at him for a moment before a strange look passed over his face that Hiei really did not like.

"Hey Hiei, were you invited to your sister's wedding eleven years ago?"

Hiei stiffened and narrowed his eyes.

"That's none of your business," he replied.

"So that's a no then," Yusuke said. "Gee, I wonder why that was?"

"It was because of the ferry girl," Hiei plainly replied. "My sister knew she couldn't have both of us there, and I despise living world festivities, so it made more sense for my sister to choose the ferry girl over me."

"...What the hell are you talking about?"

Hiei took a moment to appreciate just how genuinely confused Yusuke looked – and he really did look completely confused, all anger and hurt related to Rinku's demise gone from his expression and stance – before accepting the fact that Yusuke apparently really did not know what he was referencing.

"It's more nonsense that has nothing to do with you or Demon World," Hiei carefully said. "It's not important to the situation at hand, so just forget I even mentioned it."

Hiei turned to Touya, who nodded.

"We should move on," the ice demon said. "If we can establish that the situation has been contained, we can return here and do what we can for Rinku. For now we should go."

"I'm staying here," Chu said.

"I don't think we should split up," Shishiwakamaru said.

"I'm gonna bury my little mate," Chu said. "Anybody who wants to help, stay here with me. Otherwise, I'll see you all back at Yomi's place later."

"I'm staying to help," Yusuke said, moving over to stand alongside Chu.

Touya sighed and looked around the others.

"Anyone else?" he asked.

When nobody else stepped forward, Touya nodded and continued.

"Alright, since we are splitting up, I suggest we move on in four groups of two," he said. "We will each approach the temple from a different aspect, and move to meet as a group in the middle. Jin and I will approach from the north, Shishiwakamaru and Risho can approach from the south, Hiei and Suzuka can take the west side and, when they catch up to us, Yusuke and Chu can take the east approach. The east wing of the temple is the smallest and, from this point, the closest, so their late arrival shouldn't impede their ability to reach the centre hall at around the same time as the other three groups. Does anyone have any questions before we go?"

"I have two questions," Hiei replied. "First of all, who put you in charge, and secondly, I don't want to be paired with the clown."

"Just shut the hell up and do what he says, Hiei!" Yusuke snapped before Touya could reply.

Hiei growled and reluctantly moved to stand alongside Suzuka. The others all started to move on, until soon Hiei had lost sight of all six of them.

"So your sister didn't invite you to her wedding, huh?" Suzuka said suddenly.

"That's none of your business, you nosy jester!" Hiei irritably replied. "Forget you heard any of that!"

"Yeah, my family cause me a lot of grief too," Suzuka said, as though he had not even heard Hiei's response. "Family can be a blessing but it can also be a curse too. I'm pretty sure I have the weirdest family ever. Any problems you have with any of your family can't be half as bad as mine, I promise you."

"You have no idea what you're talking about..." Hiei grumbled.

Really, he thought to himself, there was no possible way that any single family to have ever existed in the history of any of the three worlds could possibly be any more messed up than his own.

Especially the latest generation, he thought bitterly.

"Do you wanna talk about it while we walk back?" Suzuka offered.

"I don't like talking about things I like, why the hell would I want to talk about something that I hate?" Hiei replied.

"Oh, okay."

Suzuka sounded far too light-hearted. Hiei did not hate Yukina or his late mother, but he could not say the same for the remainder of his family – his family that just seemed to keep expanding every time he stopped to think about it too much.

* * *

Koenma looked up at the clock by the train crossing before scanning up and down the busy street again. He did not really have time to be in the living world, but he had promised his father that he would perform sweeping checks over a different major city each day, and that day he had just finished a check of Sapporo. There was nothing there suspicious beyond a scattering of demon insects and he was keen to return to spirit world; but in order to do so, he needed to find his wayward pilot to fly him back home.

Koenma grimaced as Botan stepped out of an estate agents' shop, her arms hugged around a stack of brochures. She smiled as she noticed him, altering direction slightly to walk towards him. They were both wearing suitable disguises to blend in with the living world masses: Koenma was in his adult form and dressed in jeans and a shirt of a bland colour to make himself as inconspicuous as possible and Botan was wearing a brown satin dress with her hair swept into a dramatic side ponytail.

"You're late," he greeted her as she stopped in front of him.

"I had some things I had to do," she said with a shrug.

Koenma cast a long, hard look at the stack of brochures in the ferry girl's arms before meeting her eyes again.

"You signed a contract, Sir," she said, her expression slightly darker and her tone mildly argumentative. "And I've always liked this particular region of the living world."

Koenma cleared his throat awkwardly.

"So that's what you plan to do?" He asked. "If this Dark Age ends, you want to relocate to live here in human world?"

Botan's chin lifted slightly as though she was perturbed by his words.

"When this Dark Age ends," she said, putting a noticeable emphasis on the word "when". "I will be relocating to live here in human world. Like you said I could. In that contract you signed."

"Botan...?" Koenma began.

"What is it, Sir?" Botan asked.

"About that contract I signed..." he said.

"You signed and stamped it," Botan reminded him. "You can't go changing your mind about it now."

"No, I wasn't going to renege on our deal. I just wondered... Does anyone else know about our deal?"

"George."

"The ogre?"

"He was the witness signatory, remember?"

"We were very official about this deal..."

"This deal is very official."

"Right... So George... Anyone else?"

Botan gave Koenma a strange look and he nodded stiffly.

"You told her?" he asked.

He already knew the answer to his question, it was written all over Botan's face; but he wanted to be sure before he responded.

"I've always liked the seaside," she replied, her voice quiet but confident. "We both like the seaside. A top floor apartment overlooking the beach will do us just fine."

"You know Botan, even though I did sign that contract–"

"Signed and stamped."

"Right. Even though I did sign and stamp that contract, you do know that you don't have to enact it, right?"

"What would be the point in going to all the trouble that we did to put this contract in place if I don't enact it?"

Koenma smiled tightly and nodded.

"You promised, remember?" Botan said, her face darkening.

Koenma nodded more fervently.

"Yes of course, I did," he said. "It's just that my father isn't actually aware that we have this agreement, and I'm not too sure he'd be happy about it. And, depending on how the events of the upcoming weeks and month unfold, he may be unwilling to agree to the terms of our contract if the time comes to enact it."

"When the time comes to enact this contract," Botan stubbornly replied. "Nobody can stop me, because we compiled and completed this agreement following all the correct protocols."

"I'm just not sure my father trusts you enough to live anywhere other than within spirit world," Koenma quietly reminded her.

"I'm doing everything everyone is asking of me, as I always have done, and I don't intend to move to the living world for the sole purpose of wreaking havoc there!" Botan argued.

"I didn't say you did. I was just–"

"Shouldn't we be getting back to Spirit World now, Sir?"

Koenma watched as Botan's oar appeared in her hand, her knuckles turning sickeningly white as she gripped it a little too tightly for comfort. He moved his attention then to her face, finding her still staring up at him through hardened eyes set in a tense and determined expression. He sighed in defeat and indicated for her to move to a less crowded side street. As she walked on ahead of him, her oar in one hand and her stack of property brochures cradled in her other arm, Koenma silently wondered when would be the best time to tell her that the contract he had created with her was not even worth the piece of paper it had been written on.

* * *

"You're very quiet. What's the matter, don't you trust me?"

Shishiwakamaru looked up at Risho upon his question, walking along at his side. Risho was smiling, but there was something sinisterly sarcastic about the look in his eyes.

"One of my team mates was under the control of the Dark Force, and I didn't even suspect it," Shishiwakamaru explained honestly. "I no longer trust myself to identify my enemy when confronted by it."

"Self doubt is such a destructive emotion," Risho replied.

"It's not so much self doubt as it is self re-evaluation," Shishiwakamaru said.

"No, it's self doubt."

"I don't doubt myself."

"Yes you do. I can taste it."

Shishiwakamaru frowned slightly, thinking to himself that Risho's last reply had been quite odd. It was one thing for certain types of demon to claim to be able to smell emotions, but claiming to be able to taste an emotion – particularly when the two made not made any actual physical contact – made little sense. Even to be able to smell an emotion, Risho would need to have a highly heightened sense of smell, which was not a trait elemental demons were known for.

"You can taste my self doubt?" Shishiwakamaru asked. "My apparent self doubt. You can taste it?"

"Yes, I can," Risho replied. "And there's nothing "apparent" about it. I can taste your growing anxiety and your pride as you try to deny your true feelings of self doubt."

"I didn't know such things could be "tasted"," Shishiwakamaru said. "What does it taste like?"

"Ah, now you're mocking me," Risho said knowingly. "It may have been 566 years since I last tasted any emotion of any kind, but I can still remember the taste. Being bound up in talismans and confined to a measly little hole in the ground doesn't change that."

"What are you talking about?"

"Do you know what kind of demon the Dark Force was when it lived?"

"I don't think anybody knows that."

"He was a demon who could taste emotions radiating off of any living soul, and he fed on them."

"Nobody knows if the Dark Force was male or female."

"I know. He was male."

Shishiwakamaru gave Risho a warning look.

"You shouldn't talk like that, you know," he said sternly. "You sound more in favour of the Dark Force than Rinku ever did. Do you want to face the same fate that Rinku did?"

"There's no danger of that," Risho casually replied. "You think you can threaten Risho because he's a B-class demon and you are an S-class demon. And it's probably true that you are still significantly stronger than Risho as we both are: but the interesting thing about taking control of a demon of any class is finding out how much potential they are wasting and how much dirtier and harder you can make them fight when you take away their conscience and any sense of guilt or self doubt."

Shishiwakamaru slowed to a halt and Risho stopped a few steps ahead of him before turning to face him, smiling at him in a way that made him look positively creepy.

"What exactly are you saying?" Shishiwakamaru asked.

"Yusuke's such an interesting soul, don't you think?" Risho replied. "It's fascinating to see a highly strung human kid turn into such a mighty demon warrior. I especially like his unique ability to summon both spirit and demon energy. It's such a rare quality, and one that tastes so good when it's fuelled by the passion of anger and hurt over the death of a friend."

Shishiwakamaru took a sliding step back from Risho, his body tensing in preparation of a need to defend himself.

"It of course helps that he is so easily wound up," Risho continued. "Rinku wasn't even one of his closest friends. Can you imagine how sweet his pain will taste when I make Hiei kill one of his nearest and dearest friends?"

"What the hell are you?" Shishiwakamaru asked.

"When I was alive, I spent most of my time in the human world," Risho replied. "It's such a wonderful place to be, humans are so much more emotional than demons. They're all so insecure, it was so easy to draw out the deepest and tastiest emotions from them. King Enma ordered my death because he claimed I killed countless humans, but the truth is, I never killed a single one with my own hands: I had too much fun making them kill each other and themselves."

"You lying bastard!" Shishiwakamaru cried. "You've been under the control of the Dark Force this entire time! Are you saying Rinku was innocent?"

Risho smiled as he pretended to admire his hands.

"It was too easy to make that rock take off his hand," he said with a sigh. "And can you believe Rinku was the only one who thought to accuse me of using Risho's powers to manipulate that situation? I obviously couldn't keep a kid that smart around, he had to go. He wasn't my target amongst your group, but his death brought the sweetest flavours of disbelief, anger, grief and resentment from you all."

Shishiwakamaru adopted a fighting stance, but Risho simply laughed at his reaction.

"Oh no, I'm not going to fight you," he said. "Didn't you hear what I said earlier? Risho isn't nearly strong enough to take you in a one-on-one battle, even with me in control of his body."

"I'm going to kill you," Shishiwakamaru warned. "It's the only way, just like Hiei said."

"No, that's not what's going to happen now," Risho replied, looking perfectly calm about the matter. "Now one of two things is going to happen. Either you are going to attempt to kill me, and I am going to convince your friends that you are the next victim of the Dark Force and have them kill you so that I can feed on all that emotional energy again, or else I am going to make you kill yourself, right here, right now."

"There's nothing you can say or do that can make me kill myself," Shishiwakamaru replied.

"Ooh, sounds like a challenge. Mm, taste that arrogant pride!"

"And you said yourself than I am much stronger than you and you can't defeat me in a one-on-one battle."

"Not physically. But I can beat you mentally before you even come close to killing me. Which is really all I need to do to return Risho's injured body to the rest of your rag-tag little group of "heroes", hand-picked by the cream of spirit world, and have them kill you instead."

"I will kill you with a single blow."

"And the moment you make physical contact with me, you will experience a mental anguish you never before imagined possible."

Shishiwakamaru hesitated and Risho laughed again.

"I'm just kidding, I don't have that sort of ability!" he said. "Well, not in this body, anyway."

"Then you're going to die," Shishiwakamaru replied.

"Yes, but first, let's talk about why the Trial Sword turned into the Banshee Shriek Sword in your hands, shall we? After all, that transformation was a clear reflection of what was going inside your soul at the time you laid hands on that weapon."

Shishiwakamaru hesitated again: he had not expected Risho to mention his weapon from the Dark Tournament, or to even know about and he had a bad feeling about why he had chosen to mention it.

* * *

Yusuke had wiped his hands on his jeans more times than he could count, but he could still see traces of Rinku's dried blood lingering in the creases on his palms, and he could still smell blood all over himself and Chu. He and Chu had been running in silence ever since completing their task of properly and respectfully dealing with Rinku; but both were gradually slowing to a halt as they noticed a figure up ahead trying to flag them down.

"Hold up mate, it's Risho," Chu said.

He and Yusuke both stopped and Yusuke slowly nodded as he recognised the man limping towards them, one hand clutching a bloody wound in his upper arm, as the Earth Master.

"Yeah..." Yusuke said slowly. "But what the hell is he doing here? I thought he was taking the south approach with Shishiwakamaru?"

"So did I, mate," Chu replied. "But I don't see Shishi anywhere, do you?"

Yusuke shook his head, and together he and Chu started to walk on again, stopping again as they reached Risho.

"I've been trying to call on you all for so long, I didn't think anyone would come!" Risho greeted them.

"What happened to you?" Yusuke asked. "Kinda looks like someone roughed you up a bit."

Risho nodded.

"We were ambushed," he said. "The Dark Force has consumed several of Yomi's men, they're ruthless... I was almost killed. I wasn't strong enough to even stand up in their presence, Shishiwakamaru offered to hold them back so that I could call for help, but..."

"But what?" Yusuke demanded.

"But I don't think he made it..." Risho said, before dropping to his knees.

Yusuke turned to Chu.

"I'll go check it out, you get Risho here to the rendezvous point," Chu suggested.

"Wait, is it a good idea for you to go there alone?" Yusuke asked.

"Don't worry about me mate, I'll just go get a feel for the situation," Chu assured him. "I'll be careful, and I'll report back what I find. I'll catch up to you at the meeting point, I promise."

"Okay, good luck, big guy," Yusuke said.

"Yeah, I reckon you're the one who needs the luck, mate," Chu muttered, throwing a cynical look at Risho.

Yusuke nodded and then bid his friend goodbye before grabbing a handful of Risho's shirt by the back of his uninjured shoulder.

"Get up rock boy, I know you can walk, you walked all the way here, didn't you?" he said as he hauled Risho to his feet.

Risho gasped as he struggled to balance himself on his feet again.

"Are you mad at me, Yusuke?" he asked.

"No, I just think you're an asshole who's brought us all nothing but bad luck," Yusuke flatly replied. "You were an asshole at the Dark Tournment, and I was willing to accept that you mighta changed since then, but I really don't think you have all that much. Now get moving."

Risho groaned pitifully, but did at least stumble along as Yusuke dragged him onwards towards Yomi's temple. Yusuke maintained a brisk pace, keeping his eyes forward and his jaw clenched, not even faltering when Risho tripped or yelped in pain for some reason or another. They shortly reached the east wing of Yomi's temple and there Yusuke slowed to a halt at the scene that greeted him, becoming so distracted by what he saw that he inadvertently released Risho.

Yomi's temple had several holes shot through the walls, looking as though they had been created from blasts that had been shot out from inside the building and been launched against the building from the outside. The door to the east wing was shattered and hanging loose, and the porch was partially collapsed. As Yusuke began to think that maybe the group should have gone directly to Yomi's temple instead of meeting with Risho, he noticed four figures moving to his left, and turned to see Hiei, Suzuka, Jin and Touya picking their way over a ravine that had been gouged out along the length of the garden.

"Hey!" Yusuke called to them, waving a hand above his head. "What the hell happened here?"

"It's exactly what I already told you, Yusuke," Risho said at his side. "Yomi's men have mostly been taken over by the Dark Force, and they are out of control. Look at that chasm they've created in the garden: it points towards the south, the direction I was trying to approach from with Shishiwakamaru. We bore the brunt of their attack!"

Yusuke reluctantly admitted to himself that what Risho was saying did appear to make sense and it was perhaps the truth.

"Things aren't good here," Touya called over to Yusuke.

"Yeah, no kidding," Yusuke replied, quirking an eyebrow sarcastically.

"Where are Chu and Shishiwakamaru?" Suzuka asked.

Yusuke turned to glare at Risho, who continued to look pained and fearful, before turning back to address the others as they drew closer.

"Risho claims he was ambushed and Shishi offered to stay behind and hold off the bad guys so he could make his escape," Yusuke explained. "Chu went back to check on him and I got lumbered with taking this asshole back here. It looks like he got his ass kicked, but it's hard to say if that's because he was attacked by the bad guys or just because someone got pissed off with him…"

Yusuke gave Risho another glare, but none of the others appeared to share his feelings as Touya and Jin began checking over Risho's wounds and Suzuka scaled a piece of rubble to search for any visual clues of Chu's return or any enemies approaching. Yusuke started to lose some of his emotional charge, but he shortly regained it all when he found himself alone with Hiei, who was watching him carefully.

"I still can't believe you killed Rinku," Yusuke told him.

"I still can't believe you hesitated," Hiei shot back.

"Right…" Yusuke grunted. "So Hiei, since you're an expert on the bad guy, tell me this: how exactly does the Dark Force take control of someone? Does he ask permission or does he just take over?"

"It can do either," Hiei replied, placing extra emphasis on the noun "it". "It usually knows the sort of characters it can persuade to accept its influence, and it typically targets those individuals first. At this point, it's probably not strong enough to possess even a D-Class demon, but, if it found an emotionally weak, vulnerable and easily-persuaded individual, there's nobody it could not take control of: not even you or me."

"Yeah, that was kinda what I was worried about…"

Yusuke narrowed his eyes and watched as Hiei's lip slowly peeled back to reveal a sneer of displeasure.

"You think I have aligned myself with the enemy?" he asked.

"I don't want to think that," Yusuke carefully replied. "But back at the start of all of this, you said some weird things about us having to chose which side we were on, and I'm wondering which side you've chosen."

"I could point out that it's unlike you to question one of your supposed "friends"," Hiei pointed out. "Maybe you're the one who should be under suspicion."

Yusuke looked about himself before grabbing Hiei's sleeve and pulling him away from the others. Hiei resisted, but not before Yusuke had managed to drag him several steps away from the group.

"Hiei, I can't kill you," Yusuke whispered to him. "So I need you to not let yourself get possessed, okay?"

"Hn, if I do "get possessed", I expect you to kill me," Hiei plainly replied. "And don't hesitate about it, because that really would be an insult."

"Hiei, this is serious!" Yusuke snapped.

"You're lecturing me on taking this seriously now?" Hiei scoffed.

"Yes, I am! I mean it!"

When Hiei continued to look disinterested and avoid direct eye contact, Yusuke growled, grabbed the Emiko's arm and dragged him further from the group until Hiei came to his senses again and dug his heels in.

"Look, Hiei, I know what you said before, and I heard everything Koenma said about what it would be like if one of us gets possessed," Yusuke began. "But the thing is–"

"The Dark Force does not "possess" people," Hiei corrected him.

"Whatever," Yusuke said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "The point is, if you, or Kurama, or Kuwabara, or Keiko, or even Koenma gets possessed – or taken over, or controlled, or consumed, or whatever – I can't kill any of you. I just can't."

"If any of us fall victim to the clutches of the Dark Force and you do not kill the victim then you must be prepared to face the consequences of that decision," Hiei replied in a low voice. "If the Dark Force takes control of Keiko and you do not kill her, you will be forced to watch as she kills everyone else: Kuwabara, Kurama, your mother, even me. And then she will make you kill yourself. Taking one life will save the lives of everyone else. Do you understand?"

"But what if that one life is worth more than everyone else's?"

"That's a ridiculous thing to say."

"Oh yeah? Are you sure there's no one life you consider to be worth more than everyone else's? Are you saying you'd kill a certain special little lady in your life in order to save Risho?"

Hiei tried to smirk, but even a dissembler as practised as he was could not disguise the look of doubt in his eyes from Yusuke.

* * *

Kurama paused, partway through a section of overgrown grass by the far end of the lawns of Genkai's temple. He had been carefully laying traps for a simulation training session he intended to spring upon Kuwabara's three students, but, just as he had been about to sow some seeds in the grass, he realised that he was being watched.

"How long have you been following me?" he said, keeping his eyes on the seeds in his hand.

"Quite a long time, actually," a voice replied from the trees above his head. "I thought you might have noticed me sooner, to be honest."

"You've done a very good job of keeping yourself concealed," Kurama replied, his eyes still down. "Shouldn't you be on guard duty?"

"Guard duty means investigating any disturbances. And right now, I'm investigating a fox demon, hiding inside the body of a grown man, creeping around our safe house, sowing seeds of deadly demon plants."

"Get down here."

Kurama closed his fingers around the seeds and lifted his head as a figure dropped to the ground ahead of him.

"I didn't want you to see where I was planting these seeds," he explained.

Fubuki shrugged.

"It's not like it makes any difference if I know or not," she said.

"I'm trying to create a potential real-life scenario to test your skills," Kurama pointed out. "And in order for that to be successful, it needs to remain a mystery."

"A mystery?" Fubuki asked, pretending to look genuinely curious despite the distinctly playful glint in her pink eyes. "Like the mystery of a demon stuck inside a human body?"

Kurama paused as Fubuki allowed herself to smile at him.

"Is that your way of enquiring about my past?" he asked her.

She shrugged.

"I thought it was really sweet that you chose to save Shuichi's mother," she said.

"My mother," Kurama corrected her. "Shuichi and Kurama are one and the same as long as this human body survives."

"Interesting…" Fubuki commented. "What's that like?"

"What is what like?"

"Being a demon forced to live as a human?"

"It's not as bad as some may think."

"I was just thinking about something Yusuke said the other day…"

Kurama sensed Fubuki was trying to push the conversation in a certain direction and he was unsure he wanted to let it continue.

"He said the women in Demon World are way hotter than me," she continued.

"Yusuke can be a little tactless at times," Kurama replied.

"Maybe," Fubuki said. "Or maybe he was right. Maybe the women in Demon World are smoking hot. So I wondered how you've managed here in the human world, where the women are all kinda plain, like me?"

Kurama tightened his grip on the seeds in his hand.

"You do like women, right Kurama?" Fubuki asked.

Kurama tried to hold back his own awkwardness.

"This isn't something you and I need to discuss," he carefully replied.

"It's okay, I'm not coming onto you or anything!" Fubuki hurriedly replied. "I just wanted your honest opinion: am I ugly compared to the women you're used to in Demon World?"

"Not at all."

Kurama instantly regretted his reply. He should have continued being evasive, but he had hoped that a direct answer might end the conversation. Instead however, Fubuki's playful smile grew and she gave a flick of her hair, adjusting her stance only slightly, but in a way even the most socially awkward of men could see was flirtatious.

"Hey, what are you guys doing?"

Kurama had to literally bite his tongue to stop himself from telling Akira exactly how glad he was for the interruption.

"Isn't it past your bedtime little man?" Fubuki asked, leaning forwards until she was almost doubled over to bring herself to eye level with the Emiko.

"I just wondered what you were doing," Akira flatly replied. "I thought maybe you were catching butterflies."

Fubuki gave Akira a strange look, but Kurama nodding his understanding.

"You saw this net?" Kurama asked Akira, holding up the net in his hand.

"It looks like a butterfly net," Akira replied, looking up at him. "Are you catching butterflies? Can I help?"

"You like butterflies?" Fubuki asked.

"Yeah," Akira replied. "They're cool."

Fubuki looked over at Kurama again, who quickly decided to take advantage of the situation.

"I do need peace to continue this task," he said. "Why don't the two of you hunt butterflies together?"

"Okay," Akira said, turning to leave.

"Don't leave me alone with the creepy kid," Fubuki whispered to Kurama.

"You'll be fine," Kurama insisted.

"No, you don't understand…" Fubuki moaned.

"It's quite late, do butterflies still come out at this time of night?" Akira asked. "Maybe there's only moths at this time of night. I don't like moths so much."

"Please," Fubuki implored, giving Kurama a desperate look.

"Leave me," Kurama said firmly.

Fubuki sighed and rolled her eyes before clapping her hands onto Akira's shoulders from behind and pushing him forwards.

"Come on then Tet," she said. "Let's go find some moths."

"I want to find butterflies," Akira replied, stumbling on ahead of Fubuki.

"Whatever," Fubuki said with a sigh.

Kurama sighed, realising then that he had been quite tense before Fubuki had taken her leave; and, as much as he knew he ought to get back to his task at hand, he found himself watching her go for just a little longer.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** Shishiwakamaru isn't in such good shape, Hiei and Botan have a crucial conversation about an important matter, Kurama sets a simulation test for Kuwabara's students, Hiei is evasive with the other members of his team and Yusuke discovers that Risho is under the influence of the enemy. **Chapter 8 – Focus**


	8. Focus

**Chapter 8 – Focus**

Hiei was not entirely surprised when Chu returned looking ashen and withdrawn, carrying a limp purple-haired demon over his shoulder. The others all gathered round – except Risho, who remained where he was sitting worrying over his relatively minor wounds – as Chu placed Shishiwakamaru down on the ground. Even from the distance Hiei stood at – a good thirty feet from the fallen imp – it was obvious that the fatal wound he had suffered had been self-inflicted. As Yusuke began the same argument with Touya that he had earlier that day regarding his desire to donate life energy to revive his fallen friend, Hiei pondered whether Shishiwakamaru had become controlled by the Dark Force or become a victim of another controlled by the Dark Force: driving others to suicide was the Dark Force's speciality, and killing a host body was counter-productive, so it seemed more likely to be the latter option.

"That was different!" Yusuke raged. "You said I couldn't revive Rinku because he'd lost his head: Shishi still has all his body parts where they should be! You don't have any excuse to stop me doing it this time!"

"I have just the one, same, highly valid "excuse", Yusuke," Touya replied with more than a hint of irritation in his voice. "We cannot afford to weaken ourselves. We have already lost two fighters in one day, we cannot afford to lose a third!"

"I think we need to regroup," Suzuka suggested.

"What d'you mean by that?" Jin asked him.

"He means we need to retreat, because he's scared!" Chu said, pointing an accusing finger at Suzuka.

"We never should have split up!" Yusuke argued.

"We can't change that now," Touya said.

"How can you stay so calm about all of this?" Yusuke snapped at him.

"Getting angry only feeds the Dark Force," Suzuka pointed out.

"So does getting chicken shit scared…" Chu grumbled.

"I'm not scared!" Suzuka argued.

"All this fightin' is just sendin' us all around in circles!" Jin said.

"Which is why we all need to calm down," Touya said.

"I am calm!" Yusuke yelled. "All I'm saying is that if each of us gave a bit of our energy to Shishi, we could bring him back!"

"What if the Dark Force took control of him before he died?" Suzuka asked.

"The Dark Force rarely kills a body hosting any part of its energy," Touya replied.

"Rarely, but sometimes it does?" Chu asked.

"Sometimes it does, yes," Touya replied.

"So it might be dangerous to revive him," Suzuka said.

"You'd want us to revive you if it was you who died!" Yusuke snapped at him.

"Not if it meant coming back as a puppet of the Dark Force and killing all my friends," Suzuka replied.

The bickering continued, but Hiei's attention drifted to Risho, still sitting some distance from the group, his dark eyes watching on as though he was transfixed by what was going on ahead of him. And, as Hiei watched, he distinctly heard Risho slurping and saw him awkwardly wiping at one corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.

Something was wrong.

Risho slowly moved his eyes to Hiei and smiled knowingly, the look on his face – the condescending look of someone who knew they were facing down an infinitely inferior opponent – reminded Hiei of the last time he had been on the receiving end of such a look.

Hiei waited until Risho turned back to the others and then waited until he was sure that nobody would notice before silently retreating at top speed, taking himself outside of Yomi's estate and dropping behind a section of damaged garden wall before fumbling in his pockets for the horrid little device he knew he was carrying somewhere – albeit begrudgingly – about his person. After a short search, he recovered the Spirit World communication mirror, flicking it open and pressing a few keys. He waited impatiently for several seconds, constantly checking that the others remained distracted and unaware of his absence, before finally his call was answered.

"My goodness, Hiei!"

Hiei lowered his eyes to the screen. The ferry girl looked as though she had just woken up, though it was still early in the night.

"I didn't expect you to call me," she said. "Did-did you mean to call me?"

Hiei did not want to talk to her – he had long since grown weary of her attempts to discuss the chequered past they unfortunately shared – but she was the only one who could answer the question he needed to ask.

"That day in Demon World," he said. "What they're saying. Is it true?"

She looked a little taken aback, ruffling one hand at her loose and bed-messed hair.

"You mean during the Demon World Tournament?" she asked.

Hiei sighed.

"I already told you, I will not discuss that with you," he hissed.

"I wish you would," she solemnly replied.

"You know what I'm referring to, Botan," he pressed. "That day. On High Road. Everything that happened that day. Was that the day the Dark Force awoke? Was that the start of the Dark Age?"

Botan did not reply, but she did not need to: the look on her face was all the answer Hiei needed.

"I see," he said. "Who else knows about this?"

"Lord Koenma," Botan replied.

Hiei growled.

"Most of Spirit World," she added.

"Who else?" Hiei pressed.

"Yukina."

Hiei tried to gulp, but his throat had locked.

"Kuwabara."

"Why did you tell Kuwabara?" Hiei snapped.

"I didn't," Botan replied, placing unnecessary emphasis on the reference to herself.

Hiei nodded.

"Do you understand what this means?" she asked.

"Yes," he replied. "Do you? Does Koenma? Does Kuwabara?"

Botan's face changed slightly, but she nodded.

"Yes," she said. "And so does Yukina."

Hiei snapped the communicator shut, terminating the call. It was bad enough to have his worst fears confirmed, the last thing he needed was to hear that his sister knew all about it too.

Apparently the events on High Road on the fifteenth of June four years previously truly had awoken the Dark Force, just as the others had been speculating it may have. Hiei's only consolation was that everyone in Demon World believed that the explosion of energy had been caused by an unknown "monster", and that there had been no survivors of the blast. And, as long as they all continued to think that way, none of them would ever have to know the truth.

The monster that had created the blast was still alive.

The monster was Hiei.

* * *

"I'm gonna kill you for this, Kurama."

Kurama grinned nervously. In that brief moment that she had issued her threat, glowering at him from under a mess of dishevelled hair, Kurama could almost believe that Keiko could and would actually kill him.

"I can't believe I moved out of my apartment for this," Shizuru groaned. "Do we have to do this too?"

"The whole point of a drill is that everyone is involved," Kurama replied.

He then resumed striking the metal ladle against the large metal cooking pot he was holding. Keiko cuddled herself and walked on and Shizuru joined her, both dragging their heels towards the back door. Kurama paused, but he was saved the bother of correcting the girls as Yukina – who was the only person present to look sprightly despite having been awoken in the middle of the night – leapt into their path and hurriedly redirected them towards their correct locations. Kuwabara yawned and stretched his arms above his head before thumping a fist at a bedroom door. He was answered by a grumbled curse before Kaisei stumbled out into the hallway, completely naked, his clothes in one hand and a baseball bat in the other.

Kurama sighed.

"Whoa, put some clothes on, that's nasty!" Fubuki said as she leapt out into the hallway from behind another door.

Fubuki was still in her pyjamas, but she had at least put on her boots and taken a flashlight. Akira shortly joined them, looking like an infant as he tried to fight off his drooping eyelids and look as alert as he ought to. From the waist down he was dressed in his usual ninja outfit, and on top he was wearing a creased, baggy white vest that had been scrappily tucked into his pants: which left Kurama wondering if he slept in his ninja garb.

"Would you put some damn pants on?" Kuwabara snapped at Kaisei before clapping a hand over Akira's eyes and placing his other hand on the back of the boy's head to hold him in place.

"What's happening?" Akira asked.

"What time is it?" Kaisei asked as he awkwardly stepped one leg into his sweatpants.

"It's two forty-five," Kurama replied.

"In the morning?" Kaisei asked.

"Yeah, doofus!" Fubuki answered him, punching him playfully in the arm.

"Two forty-five in the morning?" Akira repeated. "Isn't this your shift on guard, Kaisei?"

Kaisei screwed up his face at Akira.

"Shut-up, Tet," he said.

"I took over Kaisei's shift today," Kurama explained. "For this exact purpose: a situation could arise at any time of day and during anyone's shift on guard, and even if something happens when most of us are asleep, we must be prepared to respond."

"Kurama's right," Kuwabara said, his agreement sounding less convincing as he still sounded half-asleep himself. "The situation is this: we're under attack by two unknown enemies. Everybody in the safe house is missing, we don't know where they are and we don't know what's outside waiting for us."

"This was your idea, Kuwabara?" Fubuki asked.

"No, it was my idea," Kurama replied.

"That makes more sense," Kaisei muttered as he finished pulling up his sweatpants. "Kuwabara never woke us up in the middle of the night before."

"Perhaps he should have," Kurama sternly replied. "You will all find that I am not as lenient as Kuwabara has been."

Kuwabara gave Kurama a vaguely disappointed look as he finally removed his hands from Akira.

"I don't doubt your ability to train these three to be better fighters," Kurama assured him. "But I know how soft-hearted you can be. We are beyond the point of making excuses and going easy on anyone. Now what do we do first?"

"Well, I guess–"

"I wasn't asking you, Kuwabara."

Kuwabara nodded and held up a hand apologetically.

"We send out the scout to check the situation out," Fubuki suggested.

"That's a good start," Kurama said. "But before that, can anyone tell me anything else we can do?"

"Concentrate for a second and see what we can feel out there?" Kaisei offered.

"Good," Kurama replied.

He placed the pot and ladle down and waited at Kuwabara's side as the three students concentrated on what they could sense. Eventually they all looked confused, except Akira, who looked a little irritated.

"Is this a trap?" he asked, giving Kurama an almost accusing look.

Kurama was surprised by his brash response, but he hid his feelings and answered honestly.

"This is a drill, if that's what you mean," he said. "But I assure you that the simulation I have set up is very real. There are two enemies waiting outside for you, and you will have to face them and rescue and recover the missing members of the safe house: Keiko, Shizuru and Yukina."

"The only unusual energy I can feel is demon," Kaisei said.

"Yeah, but it's Yukina," Fubuki added.

"Exactly," Akira said.

"So how will you proceed?" Kurama asked. "Kuwabara and I will not be assisting you, we are merely here to observe. No matter what happens out there, we will not intervene. We expect you to fix this entirely on your own."

"Eleven minutes, but the way," Kuwabara said.

"For what?" Kaisei asked.

"It's been eleven minutes since we started trying to wake you up," Kuwabara replied.

"Which is more than long enough for a stray demon to take everyone in the safe house, slaughter them and set fire to the house," Kurama said. "What will you do next?"

"Gees, you're cheerful!" Fubuki said jokingly.

Kurama found himself recalling Kaito's remark about Fubuki's inability to take anything seriously and he had to fight the urge to let his exasperation show.

"We send out the scout," Kaisei said confidently. "Tet, get on it."

Akira nodded and pulled on his hooded mask before darting off in a blur of black. Kurama waited for Akira to leave the building before turning expectantly to Kaisei and Fubuki.

"Let's go," Fubuki said to her brother.

Kaisei nodded, clawing his long, messy brown hair back from his eyes before following after her. Once they were alone, Kurama turned to Kuwabara.

"Did you ever run simulations as part of their training before?" he asked.

"No, I never thought of doing something like this," Kuwabara replied.

Kurama silently hoped that Kuwabara's flat tone and disinterested look were because he was still half-asleep and not because he thought the whole idea was boring or unnecessary.

"I couldn't have thought up something like this," Kuwabara added. "And I don't think I would have known where to find those guys."

"I had lost touch with them too," Kurama admitted. "But I did still have occasional contact with Kaito, and after we happened upon him, the idea occurred to me that we should do this. Speaking of which, we should really get outside and watch this."

Kuwabara nodded and together they started for the front door.

"Are we really staying out of it?" Kuwabara asked as they stepped outside.

"Not entirely," Kurama replied.

Kuwabara gave him a wary look but Kurama ignored him. He needed to know that Kuwabara's students could perform in a real life battle situation, because no matter how strong, fast or gifted they were, without real experience, they were little more use than an average human.

* * *

Yusuke hated pacing, but he could not make himself stop. The only thing he hated more than the cycle of pacing back and forth along a stretch of garden path was the way Hiei's eyes were watching him relentlessly as he moved back and forth.

"I'm not burying any more of my friends!" he yelled, rounding on Hiei.

The outburst was enough to make his feet stop, but that only made him aware of how much pent-up energy he had and how badly he wanted to release it by sinking a fist into someone's face.

"I did warn you that we would not make it through this without some losses," Hiei quietly replied.

"But we haven't even found this bastard yet and already he's killed two of us!" Yusuke snapped back. "Do you remember what he wrote on that rock? He said he's coming after all eight of us, and right now it feels like we're just handing ourselves over to him!"

"I don't think that warning applied to Rinku or Shishiwakamaru."

Yusuke turned his head sharply to see Touya suddenly standing a short distance from him, looking frustratingly calm in the early morning light.

"I think before we make any more assumptions, we should start investigating this matter rather than trying to fight it with brute force," he continued. "I suggest we return to where this all began and try to find some clues there as to exactly what the Dark Force's plans might be."

"That would be a waste of time," Hiei protested, rising to his feet and glowering at Touya.

"What do you mean "where this all began"?" Yusuke asked Touya. "It all began here in Demon World, didn't it?"

"More specifically, it all began at the site we will, eventually, have to return to," Touya said.

"We won't have to return there," Hiei said, stepping forwards. "Not now or at the end of this either."

"Unless we can destroy the Dark Force, returning it to its prison is our only option for victory," Touya replied.

"It has an actual prison?" Yusuke asked. "I thought it lived in an alternate dimension or some other crap until it was able to come back and possess someone."

Hiei growled and began grumbling about how stupid he thought Yusuke was, but the Mazoku ignored him, turning more fully towards Touya.

"Where is this prison?" he asked. "Let's go there right now and figure out a way to get the bastard back into it."

"It's an underground cavern," Touya replied. "Ordinarily it would be almost impossible to find and virtually inaccessible even if we got close: but since the destruction of High Road, that's no longer the case. The blast exposed a large part of the tunnels down to the cavern. We could easily access it at any time."

"Why didn't you tell us this before now?" Yusuke asked. "Gees, first you don't tell me about Risho and now this? What's with you, Touya?"

"I didn't expect us to need to return there before we were close to victory," Touya replied. "But I no longer think that would be prudent. I think we should go there when the others wake. I fear that if we stay here, we will only become embroiled with whatever happened here, and, as much as I have a duty of obligation to fight for Yomi, this is something that must take precedence."

"What exactly are you saying?"

"I'm saying I believe the Dark Force is at work here, and we will all be picked off one-by-one if we remain here much longer."

"But…"

"Yusuke, did you see how Shishiwakamaru was killed?"

Yusuke screwed up his face but Touya closed his eyes and lowered his head.

"He killed himself," Hiei spat.

"What?" Yusuke yelped, turning to Hiei.

Hiei glared back at him, and although he looked irritated, Yusuke could not help but notice that he also looked sweaty and nervous, which was not a look he had seen too often on Hiei, and one that was never a good sign.

"It's true," Touya confirmed. "The angle of entry of the fatal wound could only have been inflicted by Shishiwakamaru's own hands. But the smoothness and completeness of the wound indicates that he did not hesitate and that he was not impeded by his own survival instinct."

"Okay, it's bad enough you're telling me he killed himself," Yusuke said, trying to contain his frustration as best he could. "What the hell are you trying to tell me now?"

"Most who take their own lives experience at least a moment of hesitancy," Hiei offered. "Usually when the wound they are inflicting reaches the point of causing critical damage, the point where it changes from a severe to fatal wound. Survival instinct takes over, no matter how determined the mind was at the start of the action: the wound usually changes angle or there is evidence of an attempt to remove the weapon and stop what was happening."

"But that was not the case with Shishiwakamaru," Touya said. "The wound was clean, straight and aimed with a lethal accuracy. He did not hesitate or doubt his decision."

"He was so broken mentally, he was beyond acknowledging his own survival instinct," Hiei said.

"Yes," Touya said.

"What are you getting at?" Yusuke asked.

"Shishiwakamaru was not in control of his own mind when he died," Touya replied. "He must have been controlled by the Dark Force at the time that he acted."

"No," Hiei said.

Yusuke and Touya turned to the Emiko expectantly.

"Shishiwakamaru wasn't the one who was controlled," he continued. "He was driven to a state of extreme mental anguish by the one who he was fighting."

"So Risho was right?" Yusuke asked. "They were ambushed by Yomi's men and Yomi's men are all controlled by the Dark Force?"

Hiei shook his head.

"You don't mean–?"

Yusuke turned to Touya, who had stopped his question so suddenly he appeared to have literally frozen on the spot, wide blue eyes staring at Hiei in disbelief.

"And you brought him to us." Hiei growled, glaring at Touya through thinned, angered red eyes.

"Wait a second…" Yusuke muttered, glancing back and forth between the fire demon and the ice demon.

"It's Risho, you fools!" Hiei said. "He's a puppet of the Dark Force and he's been acting to destroy our group from the inside out since the moment he joined us."

"I had no idea…" Touya said faintly. "This is all my fault…"

"Feeling guilt and self-pity will only serve to feed the monster!" Hiei snapped at him. "Pull yourself together!"

Hiei drew out his sword and turned to Yusuke.

"Now that you understand the truth," he said tightly. "Now that you can see that someone else agrees, will you step aside and let me kill this one?"

"No," Yusuke replied. "Put your damn sword away!"

"What?" Hiei echoed.

"I'm gonna deal with this bastard myself!" Yusuke said before charging back to the campsite the others were sleeping at.

He skidded to a halt as he reached his destination, inadvertently kicking up chunks of dirt that showered down over the smouldering remains of the campfire, which hissed angrily, clouds of smoke billowing outwards around the mess he had made. The noise and general disturbance gradually woke the others up and, as he awoke, Risho resumed his act of feeling sorry for himself because of his – frankly – superficial injuries.

"Hey Risho, does your arm hurt?" Yusuke asked him.

"Yes, it still does," Risho replied, looking pathetically around the others in the hope of gaining some sympathy.

"Are you in as much pain as Shishiwakamaru was when you made him kill himself?" Yusuke said.

Risho slowly looked around the others, his expression unchanged. Yusuke could not be sure if he thought he could convince them that Yusuke was the one lying or if he was just so arrogant that he didn't even care.

"Hey, why don't you come out and face me, you bastard?" Yusuke added. "Get out of Risho and face me yourself! I know you're controlling Risho, so don't even try to deny it!"

Risho's eyes returned to Yusuke, and he held his expression for a moment before smiling lazily and rising to his feet, standing tall and confident, suddenly no longer concerned about his injuries.

"Unfortunately I can't leave Risho's body, Yusuke," Risho replied. "It's a part of the condition your ancestors condemned me to: I can only take mortal form by infusing little pieces of my soul into other living creatures. This particular body is definitely my favourite so far though: it's both the strongest and the most well-placed to feed of the sweetest and most succulent meal of all."

"What are you talking about?" Yusuke growled.

"I'm talking about your school boy rage," Risho replied. "I love how you suppress all your emotions and express anything only as anger or despair. Anger and despair are delicious meals in their own right, but they are so much sweeter when they are formulated of a entire spectrum of suppressed emotions."

"You won't walk out of this alive," Hiei warned Risho as he joined Yusuke by the campfire.

"And from the suppressed, we come to the repressed," Risho said, smiling at Hiei.

"Before I slaughter you, tell me one thing," Hiei replied, tightening his grip on the hilt of his sword. "Who are you looking for?"

Hiei reached up his free hand and tore loose his bandana.

"And don't bother trying to lie to me," he warned as his Jagan Eye opened with a daunting blue glow.

"Hmm, I could tell you that," Risho replied.

Yusuke clenched his fists until his fingernails bit into his palms and drew blood: the bastard was talking and acting in such a casual manner, talking in such a jocular tone, it was as though he thought the deaths of Rinku and Shishiwakamaru were a source of fun.

"But I do enjoy making things difficult," Risho continued. "Especially for you, Hiei. But, you already know how you factor into all of this, don't you? You already know what role you will play in my plans."

Yusuke turned sharply to Hiei, the look of guilt and concern that briefly shot across Hiei's features doing little to ease his concerns that Hiei maybe was somehow associated with the enemy.

"It's very clever, what you've done," Risho continued. "Your little ruse. Well, not yours personally, since neither you Hiei, nor you Yusuke, was the mastermind behind this: splitting the eight elements, separating them between worlds. It won't stop me, of course. I won't even have to bring them together myself: you'll do it for me without me even having to force it. In the end it will just be the chosen eight. And until then, I'm having fun just playing with the ones I can reach. But, Yusuke, Hiei, what's wrong? You don't look like you're having fun, either of you."

"Of course this isn't fun you sick son of a bitch!" Yusuke replied. "You just killed two of our friends for no damn good reason! If it's me or Hiei you want, leave everyone else out of this!"

"First of all, Yusuke," Risho said through a sigh as though he was suddenly bored by Yusuke's retelling of his dastardly deeds. "I didn't kill anyone. I never have killed anyone. Hiei killed Rinku and Shishiwakamaru killed himself. And secondly, I don't want Hiei. He makes for a tasty meal, but he's of no use to me in his current, damaged, form."

Yusuke paused, momentarily taken aback by Risho's last remark. He glanced at Hiei, expecting to find him wearing one of those condescending sneers he reserved especially for opponents who underestimated him: but instead he found Hiei once more looking vaguely guilty and ever so slightly panicky.

"What's the matter, Hiei?" Risho asked. "Was it a terrible blow to your pride to see that even the child your sister had with the moron is stronger than you now?"

Yusuke's jaw dropped involuntarily and in the time it took him to shake off his confusion, Hiei had launched his attack, ending Risho's life with the same lethal efficiency he had with Rinku. Yusuke backed up as Risho's headless body fell across the remains of the campfire, looking around the others to see that they looked as shocked and confused as he felt.

"I apologise to you all," Touya said remorsefully. "I feel this was all my fault for bringing him into our group."

"I thought it was a good idea too," Jin said, hanging his head. "I'm sorry too, everyone."

Yusuke shook his head.

"Nah, it's not your fault," Chu said. "Neither of you knew he'd been taken over. None of us saw it, either."

"Except Hiei," Suzuka said.

"This is why you shouldn't hesitate," Hiei answered them.

"Well, in this case at least, you were right," Chu conceded.

"Hey, so does this mean we've weakened the Dark Force now?" Yusuke asked.

"That should be the case," Touya said. "Risho was a powerful demon for the Dark Force to have occupied, it's likely we've made a significant blow to the enemy now."

"Unless the Dark Force had found a demon stronger than Risho and convinced that demon to let it consume him," Hiei casually commented.

"You're a real ray of sunshine, you know that?" Jin said to him sarcastically.

"We should try to verify if we've made a real difference here," Touya said. "Let's return to Yomi's temple and assess the situation there."

Yusuke, who had been watching Hiei throughout the exchange, shook his head.

"I don't wanna do that just yet," he said. "First I wanna go see this damaged road everybody's talking about."

When Hiei flinched, Yusuke felt all the more convinced that his decision was the correct one. As the others began to ready themselves to move on, Yusuke moved over to Hiei, waiting until the Emiko met his eyes before speaking.

"So Risho said something about you being damaged?" he asked.

"Hn, a typical distraction tactic employed by an enemy who relies on a battle of words and riddles to win," Hiei replied, looking almost sure of himself (but not quite).

"Okay, I'll take that for now…" Yusuke said. "But what about that other thing he said? About Yukina and Kuwabara having a kid? What was that all about?"

Hiei sighed.

"You mean you haven't figured it out yet?" he asked. "That strange little half-human boy is Yukina's child."

"Half-human…?" Yusuke echoed. "Wait, you mean the creepy kid? The little ninja boy?"

Hiei nodded his head and Yusuke held his breath as the realisation of the situation hit him.

"Wait, so… Kuwabara's a dad?" he said incredulously.

"I'm not so sure about that part."

"Huh?"

Yusuke had wanted to stay angry at Hiei, but confusion was rapidly taking over.

"Logically it would seem that Kuwabara ought to be the father of Yukina's child," Hiei explained. "All clues seem to point to that conclusion: all except one. We sometimes rely so heavily on sensing auras and trusting instincts and making assumptions based on previous experience that we forget to do something as simple as use our eyes."

"…Meaning…?" Yusuke pressed.

"Meaning the kid has purple hair," Hiei replied. "There are only two types of purple hair a demon can produce: dark purple or pale purple. Dark purple can only be produced if both parents have dark purple hair. Pale purple can only be produced when one parent has one certain hair colour and the other parent has another certain hair colour: one of those colours is blue, and the other is not orange."

Yusuke nodded slowly, trying to remember back to art class at school when he had deliberately poured different coloured paints into a common pot to ruin the selection of colours. After a little thought on the matter, Yusuke came to the conclusion that only one colour could be mixed with blue to create purple, and that was red.

"So… Kurama is that kid's father?" he concluded aloud.

"Yusuke…" Hiei said, a very strange look on his face as he spoke. "You're an idiot."

Yusuke's face dropped. Keiko was right: he really should have visited the living world more often.

And things really were getting complicated.

* * *

"During the simulation, I took you aside for a period of three minutes. Do you know why I did that?"

"You wanted me to observe the battle objectively?"

"Exactly."

Kurama nodded and Kaisei's expression remained neutral.

"And what did you observe during those three minutes?" Kurama asked.

"I saw that those we were trying to rescue aren't entirely helpless," Kaisei replied. "I saw Yukina protecting herself against one of your spitting Triffids with a barrier, I saw Keiko get herself out of the Gamemaster's territory and I saw Shizuru take down that fanged daisy plant of yours with a roundhouse kick that could have taken a car off the highway."

Kurama fiddled with the pen in his hand, glanced down at the blank piece of paper on the clipboard resting on his knees and then looked across the table at Kaisei again.

"Anything else?" he asked.

Kaisei shrugged.

"Those were the most important things I noticed," he said.

"Did you notice what your fellow students were doing at all?" Kurama asked.

"Sure," Kaisei replied. "They were doing what I would have expected them to: what they always do in any training session."

"Which is?"

"Fubuki was totally on the offensive and the little kid was running away from everything."

"Could you be more specific? I'm hoping you can offer me a constructive criticism of your peers. This will help me assess both your skills of observation, how you perceive someone's performance will tell me a lot about your approach to battle and perhaps you can help me to understand the sort of mistakes the others typically make and any weaknesses they may have that should be worked on."

"Oh, okay. You want me to stab my sister in the back?"

Kurama forced a tight smile.

"Not at all," he said.

"I don't have a problem with that," Kaisei said, smiling. "Nah, I'm joking. If I'm being really critical, I suppose I'd have to say that Fubuki rushes in without thinking. She's really strong of course, so she can always back it up – but I guess if she was up against a really strong opponent, she might run right into a trap. The kid has the opposite problem. He just runs away and hides in the shadows and then gives some lame excuse about not wanting to hurt anybody. Like he could, right?"

"I see. Could you summarise the experience for me: what did you find the most useful about it and what made the strongest impression upon you?"

"I thought it was a waste of time, mostly. I guess making us get out of bed is good practise for an emergency situation, but after seeing how those girls defended themselves, I don't think we need to worry about rushing to rescue any damsels in distress any time soon. And that's what made the strongest impression on me: the fighters in our team are all strong and we all chose to save members of our own families, and our families are all above average too."

Kurama sighed and nodded his head.

"You may go," he said. "Send in your sister next, please."

"Sure thing," Kaisei said, rising from his seat.

As he waited for Kaisei to leave the room and Fubuki to enter, Kurama looked down at his notes, which read "Kaisei: underestimates value of the vulnerable, underestimates power level of the enemy and severity of the battle, unafraid to give honest and accurate appraisal of peers".

"Hey foxy."

Kurama lifted his eyes from the page as Fubuki sat down opposite him. It had only been an hour since the battle simulation had ended and Kuwabara was still tidying up the mess left behind, whilst Yukina, Shizuru and Keiko had gone to bed and even Kaisei had met with Kurama with his shirt removed and bare feet as he was apparently preparing to return to bed; but Fubuki had inexplicably changed into a very fitted night-dress.

"What did you just say to me?" he asked her.

"I said hi fox," she lied.

Kurama tapped his pen against the paper.

"Is there a reason you changed your outfit?" he asked.

She shrugged and feigned innocence.

"The test is over, right?" she asked. "Everyone else is going to bed, I thought it was okay for me to go back to bed too. It's not my shift on guard yet."

"You were wearing over-sized cotton pyjamas when we woke you," Kurama pointed out.

"I'm a little sweaty after our session, I had to get out of those sweaty pyjamas," Fubuki replied. "I tried to freshen up at the sink but I'm far too tired to have a shower, so I thought, rather than another pair of pyjamas, I'd just throw on this old thing."

Kurama slowly narrowed his eyes.

"During the simulation, I took you aside for a period of three minutes," he said, trying to bring the conversation back on topic. "Do you know why I did that?"

"No, but your timing was perfect," Fubuki replied. "I'd just broken a nail and I needed a minute to fix it."

Kurama narrowed his eyes further and Fubuki grinned at him.

"Wow, you're so easy to wind up," she said. "You're even more gullible than my brother, and that's really saying something!"

"Could you answer the question seriously, please?" Kurama pressed, ignoring her attempts to lure him into her game.

"Sure," she said. "You wanted me to step back and watch the battle without the distraction of being involved in it myself."

"Yes, very good," Kurama replied.

"Do I get a gold star for getting the question right, teacher?"

Kurama paused, halfway through writing his first note against Fubuki.

"What happens if I get too many wrong answers?" she asked.

Kurama slowly lifted his eyes to look across the table at her.

"Do I get a sad face on my exam paper?" she asked.

"This isn't a joke, Fubuki," Kurama sternly warned her. "We are talking about what could well be the end of this world as we know it. Do you really think such a prospect is suitable subject material for a joke?"

Fubuki shook her head.

"I was just trying to lighten the mood," she said, looking slightly more sensible and vaguely apologetic. "You just seem so uptight. Everybody does. I feel like I'm the only one who can still remind everyone to try to relax every now and then."

Kurama wanted to admonish her, but her words strangely reminded him of Yusuke and how he would deal with such a situation, and so he decided against it.

"Could you tell me what you observed during your three minute break?" he asked instead.

"I saw Kuwabara panicking because he thought we weren't living up to your expectations of us," Fubuki replied. "I saw you watching everything, but it was like you weren't really focused on the action. Like your mind was somewhere else entirely…"

Kurama tightened his grip on his pen.

"Did you notice anything regarding the battle itself?" he asked.

"You mean aside from the fact that the two boys floundered without me there to give them direction and get them out of trouble?" she asked. "No, not really."

"I see…" Kurama said.

"What are you writing there?" Fubuki asked, stretching up in her seat and craning her neck in an attempt to see over the table at Kurama's notes. "I really hope you're saying good things about me foxy, my mom'll ground me for sure if I get another bad report card."

Kurama lifted his eyes to Fubuki, who smiled at him and tilted her head to one side.

"Not even a smile?" she asked.

"Could you tell me what you found to be the most useful thing about the exercise I set you?" Kurama asked, ignoring her teasing.

"It was fun getting to meet some of your flowered friends," Fubuki replied. "I especially liked that spitting Triffid."

"That was a Toxic Daffodil," Kurama said. "Your brother called it a "spitting Triffid" too though. You do both realise that the Triffid is a fictional plant, of human invention?"

"What can I say?" Fubuki asked with a shrug. "We're suckers for old horror movies with bad special effects."

"Okay, well, be thankful that you all managed to avoid the Toxic Daffodils. The venom they project causes paralysis."

"Permanent paralysis?"

"No, temporary."

"Still, you really weren't messing about, huh?"

"No I was not. I thought Seaman and Gamemaster were incredibly lenient: I have told them as much. If I call for their assistance again, they will fight you as if they are fighting for their lives."

"Yeah, they were pretty easy to beat. But maybe if that guy hadn't called himself Semen, everyone would take him more seriously."

Kurama paused, remembering then that Fubuki – when confronted by Mitari – had simply asked his name and then repeatedly mispronounced it until he lost his focus, at which point she had knocked him out with a single bow: Kurama was unsure if he was impressed with her ability to incapacitate an enemy or horrified by her inability to take even such an intense training session seriously.

"I have just one more question for you," he said. "Which part of the session left the strongest impression upon you?"

"Ooh, I'd have to say your flower arrangements," Fubuki replied. "I do love a man who knows how appreciate a good flower."

"Okay, I think we're done here," Kurama said. "You may leave. Send in Akira."

"Oh, don't be so hard on the little tyke now," Fubuki said. "Remember he's just a little boy. And, you know, sometimes he gets a little distracted when he's around me."

Kurama watched Fubuki stand up, trying to ignore just how short her nightdress was.

"And why would that be?" he asked.

"Don't you know?" Fubuki asked. "The little guy has the cutest little crush on me."

Kurama felt his eyebrows slowly rise up against his will.

"I know, it's so adorable!" Fubuki said. "He always notices when I change my hair or if I wear something new and he's always talking to me about butterflies like I give a damn. It's so cute. It's the most normal thing about him."

"I see," Kurama replied. "Well, thank you for telling me about it."

"Are you being sarcastic?"

"Quite the contrary. If what you're saying is true, then Akira's feelings for you are one of his potential weaknesses in battle."

"Aw, but don't give him a hard time about it."

"You may leave now."

Fubuki opened her mouth to comment, but Kurama quickly spoke before she could.

"Send in Akira," he reminded her.

She nodded and left the room, and Kurama quickly finished his notes on their meeting as "Fubuki: lacks the ability to take anything seriously, observation skills clouded by preconceptions, over-confidence can be an asset as she takes chances and is brazen enough to employ strategies most could not".

Kurama looked up as Akira entered the room, frowning slightly at the uneven sound of the Emiko's footsteps and the awkward way he dropped into the seat across the table.

"Are you alright, Akira?" Kurama asked him.

Akira brushed the fingertips of his left hand against the right side of his mouth.

"One of your big yellow flowers spat on me," he replied, his voice muffled as the right side of his face was apparently paralysed from the venom.

"I can give you a cure for that," Kurama said, reaching over to a jug he had on the table, pre-prepared for exactly such an outcome. "Drink this, the effects will be rapid and you should have full feeling and mobility again within two minutes."

Kurama poured the viscous green liquid onto a glass and slid it across the table towards Akira, who made no attempt to accept it, instead looking down at it curiously as it stopped mere inches in front of him.

"What's in this?" he asked.

"Don't worry, this isn't a part of your test," Kurama assured him. "It's not poisoned. It is a cure."

"Okay, but what's in it?" Akira asked, sounding mildly irritated. "It smells like a dead parrot."

"That's… Oddly specific… It contains milk thistle, alfalfa–"

"Yuck."

Kurama barely caught the glass as Akira roughly slid it back towards him, and then had to quickly snatch his hand away as some of the contents sloshed out.

"It's a cure for your paralysis," Kurama patiently explained as he wiped the excess mess from his hand and the table surface with a tissue. "If you don't take this, you will be paralysed for anywhere from two to eight days."

"I'm not drinking something with alfalfa in it," Akira sternly replied. "I wouldn't even wipe my ass with alfalfa."

Kurama finished cleaning up the mess Akira had made before fixing his eyes onto the Emiko.

"Have ever actually tasted alfalfa?" he asked.

"Yes," Akira replied. "It tastes like dead parrot."

Kurama sighed.

"You could hold your nose while you drink it," he suggested. "That way you won't taste it."

"You sound like my mother," Akira replied. "She used to tell me that when she gave me medicine when I was a kid. Sure it works, but the minute I let go of my nose, I can taste it again."

"Why don't you keep a hold of your nose, drink the antidote and then have some cocoa to take away the taste?"

"I don't like cocoa. It tastes like over-ripe yogurt."

Kurama had to force himself not to argue any further on the matter.

"Okay, well, if you won't take the antidote–"

"I won't."

"Then let's move on to discussing tonight's exercise. During the simulation, I took you aside for a period of three minutes. Do you know why I did that?"

"You wanted me to observe the battle objectively?"

"Yes, well done. And during that time, what did you observe?"

"I saw that if it had been real, if we really had been under attack, if your two human friends with the special powers had been applying themselves fully and your plants had been more abundant and more lethal, our chance of victory would have been negligible."

Kurama tried not to show how surprised he was by Akira's bleak answer.

"What makes you say that?" he asked instead.

"Kaisei targeted Gamemaster because he saw an opportunity to exercise his problem solving abilities and to brag about his knowledge of mundane matters. If that had been a real fight, his arrogance would have been his downfall. Fubuki wasted her time flirting with Seaman, which is not unusual for her. Neither of them really noticed what the plants were doing or the threat they may have posed. Neither of them made any great effort to rescue the hostages. This was just a game as far as they were concerned. They didn't take it seriously and so neither did I."

"I'm disappointed to hear that, Akira. Can you tell me what you would have done if it had been a real attack with those exact enemies?"

"It seems to me that there would have been little I could do on my own against such odds. I imagine I would only have the time and ability to battle a single enemy – either one of the humans or one type of plant – or to focus on saving one of the hostages."

"Try to tell me what you think you should do."

"I know what I would do. Using my knowledge of stealth tactics, I would have done the only thing that makes any sense to me: I would have approached undetected, recovered my mother, and gotten the hell out of there."

Kurama tensed.

"I see," he said. "And what about everyone else you leave behind?"

"I don't care about that," Akira replied.

The pen in Kurama's hand snapped in half; Akira did not so much as flinch.

"What about your Aunty Shizuru?" he asked. "Are you saying you would knowingly and willingly leave her to be tortured to death by demons?"

"Yes."

Kurama slowly sat forwards.

"Do you understand what torture entails?" he asked. "I don't think you appreciate what an enemy is capable of doing to a human woman."

"I imagine they'd probably rape, beat, burn, cut and possibly electrocute a human."

Kurama stopped breathing.

"It would make me very sad to know that such a fate had befallen my friends and family," Akira continued. "But so long as I get my mother to safety, nothing else matters."

"Does your mother know you feel this way?" Kurama asked.

"She and I agreed at the start of this that we would both make it out alive, whatever the costs," Akira replied.

"I think you misunderstand: I know your mother very well and I know she is not the sort of woman who would condemn anyone else as you just have."

"That's true. My mom would want to save everyone. But that's because she has a kind and gentle soul and a loving heart. I don't have that problem."

Kurama slowly sat back again. There was nothing more unsettling than a child with no concept of right and wrong, no sense of morals and no value for life: and apparently that was exactly what he was looking at.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** The DW team reach High Road and Hiei remembers the day the damage was done, Kurama confronts Koenma about Akira's attitude and receives some confusing information in reply, which is confused further when he tries to discuss the matter with Akira, and Yusuke and Hiei have a heated debate that leaves them both distrustful of each other. **Chapter 9 – Tetsuo Shima**

**A/N:** I'm averaging one death per chapter here and after rereading this chapter I thought it all happened a bit fast, so the next couple of chapters will deal with some flashback plot explanations and raising tension in the other two worlds (including Botan analysing her family tree…)


	9. Tatsuo Shima

**A/N:** So this chapter makes it so obvious I'm on a Hunter X Hunter bender at the moment…

This chapter also marks the start of the history of this fic being told via flashbacks.

* * *

**Chapter 9 – Tatsuo Shima**

Hiei scratched at his right arm self-consciously as the others gathered around the crater before them. He peered down at it as he edged closer. He was sure it was not that big before. Or maybe it had been. It seemed like it had happened so long ago. Or maybe it had just happened a week ago. It was hard to place a timeline on a memory he had gone to great lengths to repress.

At one point, he had even entertained the idea of asking Mukuro to help him wipe it from his mind altogether.

Had he not suffered such great injury that day, Hiei would have asked Mukuro to help him wipe the memory of that day from his mind: but as it was, he did not want anyone to know how badly either his physical being or his pride had been wounded.

His only consolation was that the damage to High Road was so catastrophic. The crater was so deep that, when he finally reached the edge of it, he could not even see the bottom of it. Jin kicked a stone over the edge and turned a twitching ear towards the ground, waiting for what seemed like an unreasonable length of time before commenting.

"Ooh-wee, that's a deep hole that is!" he said. "That's a bottomless pit if ever there was one!"

"Perhaps we won't be able to descend into the cavern after all," Touya added.

As the group began debating their next course of action – Yusuke was determined to go down to the cavern, Suzuka was resolutely against the idea, Touya was curious but sceptical of their chances of making the journey, Jin was generally against the idea but interested in hearing the argument for it and Chu was undecided – Hiei began to walk around the edge of the enormous gouge in the landscape. He had no burning desire to clamber down into the Dark Force's prison, which was sure to be a horrid, confining little hole, but equally he was curious to know what he might find on the journey down.

That day on High Road, four years previously, Hiei had lost something, and he wondered if it lay at the bottom of the pit.

He found it hard to believe that the events of that day had triggered the early onslaught of a Dark Age. It all seemed so ridiculous and oddly trivial. The day had started out much like any other for Hiei: he had set out with his usual crew to perform his duties as a guard of the Border Patrol, and, as usual, the journey had shortly taken them onto High Road, a long stretch of road that passed very close by four major portals to the living world. It was not unusual that the unit would have to stop along High Road, either to turn away demons attempting to access the living world illegally or else to recover humans who had accidentally crossed over. However, that day, it had all been quiet. It had been so quiet, Hiei had fallen asleep, slouched back in a reclining chair, his feet propped up on a console and his hands behind his head as a pillow. And he would probably have remained that way had it not been for the ferry girl.

Hiei had been rudely awoken by one of his colleagues telling him that they had detected minor activity in the region of road that passed over the cavern the Dark Force was contained in. Ordinarily a scuffle between low level demons was of no concern to the Border Patrol, who had far more pressing duties to perform: but there was an unspoken rule in Demon World that nobody overlooked a disturbance in the area the Dark Force was contained, as it could indicate someone trying to awaken the ancient beast. An altercation, no matter how weak the combatants involved, would generate negative emotions, and that alone would be enough to disturb and potentially rouse the Dark Force. And so, when Hiei had been informed of a fight taking place close by the site, he had found himself wide awake and hurrying to the roof of the vehicle, barking an order to the driver to halt the vehicle as he went.

Up on the roof Hiei first removed his bandana and, with the aid of his Jagan Eye, taken a very brief glimpse of what lay ahead: which had shown him the ferry girl standing on the road, holding back a dragon fish with her oar. At first he was angry, and that alone broke his focus. She had no reason to be in Demon World, and of all the places she could have chosen to visit, she had, by far, picked the most controversial place a spirit could be found. The Dark Force was as likely to be disturbed by an extreme emotional outburst as it was by a massive energy surge, and Hiei knew of few people more extremely emotional than Botan, and so her presence there was a clear danger to not only herself but to all three worlds, as her tussle with the dragon fish was risking bringing about mass devastation. The remainder of the crew with Hiei would not hesitate to report her actions to Mukuro and Enki and probably even to Spirit World; and Hiei knew that, somewhere along that chain of events, the fact that Botan knew Hiei personally would be mentioned, and the last thing he wanted or needed was to be associated with a resident of Spirit World who had almost caused a disaster in Demon World. And so, to avoid embarrassment, Hiei went back inside the vehicle and ordered the others to remain where they were whilst he "investigated" the situation ahead of them.

By the time Hiei had thrown off his coat and scarf and started along the road, the situation ahead of him had deteriorated. He had slowed on his approach, eventually stopping just at the point where he could barely make out distant shapes moving about at the end of the road. It appeared that Botan had not visited Demon World alone – or else she had since been joined by some sort of ally – as there were suddenly distinct emissions of spirit energy that were clearly not coming from the ferry girl herself. Based on the spirit energy he was detecting, Hiei concluded that whoever was with Botan was not incredibly strong – clearly it was not Kuwabara or even one of the Spirit World soldiers – but whoever it was certainly was strong enough, with a bit of effort, to fend off a dragon fish. Hiei hesitated then, mostly hoping that the situation would resolve itself. Surely once they had fought off their attacker, Botan and her associate would leave.

There was a small chance that Botan had come looking for him, Hiei thought to himself, but as it had been several years since she had last come looking for him, he had assumed that was not the case, and her presence there was merely an anomaly.

And for a brief moment, it seemed as though everything would resolve itself. The conflict came to an end and even visually Hiei could see there was no movement up ahead. He readied himself to wait in place for Botan to move on so that he could return to the vehicle far behind him and report that he had chased off the problem but not been able to capture anything. He knew it was unlikely that his colleagues would believe that he, with his unique agility, speed and determination, would not have managed to catch anyone he was pursuing, but he was prepared to stand by the lie. But, just as Hiei had been sure that the situation could not get any worse, he saw a slight awkward movement on the road ahead and then saw as well as felt a very distinct blast of dark energy that he could not dismiss or ignore. Not only was it demon energy, but it was clearly a summoning of the darkness flame, something only another emiko could do.

Hiei had never met another emiko before, though based on the fact that the ice maidens had ousted him because they claimed they had previously had bad experiences with emikos, logically there had to be at least one other emiko somewhere in Demon World. How and why another Emiko had surfaced in such a location and at such a time Hiei could only speculate: but one thing he did know for sure was that Botan could not defend herself against any demon producing energy like that he had just witnessed, and so he started towards her again, only to skid to a halt halfway there as she suddenly rocketed into the sky on her oar. She had flown straight up, which was not an ideal strategy for escaping, but she had travelled far enough away from ground level to give Hiei a clear shot at what she had escaped from, which he could then see was two demons battling each other.

The unspoken rule for dealing with such a situation was clear, and, with Botan safely out of harm's way, Hiei dealt with the situation the quickest and cleanest way he knew how to.

But unfortunately, the outcome of his actions were neither quick nor clean.

"Hey Hiei. We're going down."

Hiei looked over at Yusuke, who was still standing where Hiei had left him when he had set out to walk the perimeter of the crater. The others had all already started to descend into the darkness below the road and, as Hiei watched on, Yusuke began to follow them. Hiei peered down towards the invisible floor of the crater and silently wondered if there would be any clues as to what had really happened to create it: and he found himself both hoping that there were, for the sake of finding closure and making sense of the matter in his own mind, and hoping that there were not, as the remainder of the group would surely only grow suspicious of him if there were.

* * *

Kurama waited patiently as Koenma recovered himself. For the first time ever, Kurama had visited Koenma's office and found the prince to be absent. It had taken some time for one of the guards to finally track him down and even longer again for Koenma to return to his office, and when he had arrived, he had been more than a little flustered.

"You could have just called me," he eventually said, still sounding a little out of breath.

"Not for this matter I couldn't have," Kurama smoothly replied.

Koenma took a moment to study Kurama before righting himself in his chair and lowering his small arms to the armrests at his sides.

"I hope all is well in the living world?" he asked.

"In a sense it is, yes," Kurama replied. "There have been no signs or reports of any demon activity beyond the presence of the insects and the occasional low level pest. But I didn't come here to discuss the unknown enemy, I came here to discuss the enemy within our own ranks."

Koenma sat forwards.

"It concerns me greatly that you have placed a known demon criminal into our supposed safe house," Kurama added. "If you expect any of us to trust and cooperate with Akira, I'm going to need full disclosure on his crimes."

Koenma nodded solemnly.

"It's a complicated matter," he said. "And one that I unfortunately can't share too many details of with you or anyone else. I hope you can appreciate that I do so for your own safety."

"You answer isn't reassuring me any," Kurama replied. "Was it meant to?"

"I can assure you that Akira doesn't pose any threat to you or to anyone else in the safe house," Koenma offered.

"How can you be sure of that?" Kurama asked. "I've only known Akira for a matter of days and already I've seen and heard evidence that this child could be the biggest threat in existence in the living world right now."

"I understand that Akira probably gives the impression of hiding something or maybe being a little untrustworthy or sneaky, but–"

"I'd like to see the file you have on Akira."

"I shouldn't really show you any of Spirit World's confidential files."

"At a time like this, I really don't think you should even consider refusing my request."

Koenma sighed forlornly in what Kurama thought might be an attempt to induce sympathy, but the fox demon remained unmoved.

"I can let you have ten minutes," he offered.

"Half of that will be fine," Kurama replied.

"Alright," Koenma said. "The ogre will take you to the file room – you have five minutes."

Kurama nodded and turned to Koenma's loyal assistant, who grinned nervously and then led the way out the back door of Koenma's office. As they travelled to their destination, George rubbed his hands and scratched at the back of his head and generally complained about various aspects of his life as though Koenma yelling at him for not heating his tea to the correct temperature was somehow something of significance as all three worlds faced another Dark Age. Kurama politely nodded and offered a few plain platitudes until they finally reached the file room, which was, mercifully not as big as Kurama had expected it to be. He suspected it was a room for specific files – like files on criminals of Spirit World or demons of interest – but either way, it made finding the correct drawer relatively easy.

Kurama scanned through the drawer twice before turning sharply to the ogre still loitering in the doorway, ignoring the way he flinched as their eyes met.

"There isn't a file in here for Akira," he said. "Why is that?"

George shrugged and Kurama slammed the drawer shut, turning his attention to another filing cabinet: if there was not a file listed under "Akira", perhaps there would be one listed under "Kuwabara, Akira". Another quick scan left him empty-handed – though he did find a file titled "Kuwabara, Kazuma" – and he turned back to George again.

"Was this a ruse to distract me?" he asked.

George stuttered out an incoherent answer and Kurama glanced up at a clock on the wall in the hall beyond the room. He had used just over two of his allotted five minutes, and although he was sure that he could reach the place he intended to go next within the remaining time limit, he was not sure that he knew the route there well enough to find his chosen destination without hesitation. He was also not sure that he would not be stopped from going to the one other place he was almost certain he could get an answer. He took a moment to concentrate on any energy signals around him, shortly finding what he sought: a collection of distinctly demon energy signals.

"Too bad," he said casually, closing the last drawer he had opened. "Take me back to Koenma's office."

He moved to the doorway and waited for George to close the door behind him.

"And tell me more about what happened when you brought Koenma his mid-morning snack yesterday," Kurama added.

He waited until George had moved several steps away and was fully engrossed in recounting his own misery before swiftly turning and sprinting in the opposite direction. As he ran he checked his progress on any clock he passed, and, despite having to pass through one especially crowded corridor, he reached his destination with two minutes to spare.

Kurama stopped as two large ogres baring weapons stepped into his path, blocking his entrance to the door behind them.

"I don't seek entry to the prison proper," he assured them, holding up his hands. "I just wish to see a list of the prisoners currently on death row."

"I don't know about that," one of the guards replied.

"It doesn't mean anything even if we do let him see it," the other guard said. "It's not like there's anything he can do about it now. Once someone's placed on that list, there is no going back."

The first guard shrugged and turned to retrieve a clipboard from a selection of clipboards mounted on the wall, passing it, and the single piece of paper pegged to it, to Kurama.

"There's only one name on here," Kurama said as he frowned at the paper before him.

"That's right," the guard confirmed, taking the clipboard back from Kurama.

"There's only one prisoner facing execution?" Kurama asked.

"Yes," the other guard confirmed.

"Alright," Kurama said. "Do you know when the sentence is due to be passed?"

"No."

"Okay. And it's definite?"

"The only way a name comes off that list is when the sentence is passed."

Kurama nodded and then thanked the guards before hurrying back towards Koenma's office. He barely managed to rejoin George at the moment that he stepped back through the door, but the put-upon servant had apparently not even noticed his absence, as he was still telling the same story he had been when Kurama had left him. He fell silent as they approached Koenma's desk and Kurama nodded to Koenma.

"Did you find what you needed?" Koenma asked him.

"Not entirely," Kurama replied. "I may return some time to discuss this matter further with you."

Koenma nodded and Kurama took his leave, gladly returning to the living world, where it was already mid-morning and Genkai's temple was still peacefully silent as the others were apparently all in bed. Kuwabara had made a valiant effort to clear away most of the mess that had been created the night before, and Mitarai and Amanuma were preparing to leave. Kurama hurried over to them, waving a hand to stop them from driving off.

"Hi Kurama," Mitarai greeted him.

"Thank you both for helping out last night," Kurama replied. "But before you go, I wondered if you could give me any feedback on what you thought of the three you faced?"

"That guy with the long hair is pretty good," Amanuma offered. "He's really smart."

"What about the other two?" Kurama asked.

"The tall busty girl was pretty confident," Amanuma replied, his smile drooping as he spoke. "It didn't seem like she was taking any of it seriously, but maybe that was just to distract us, because she can really handle herself. She's probably stronger than the long-haired guy, but he's definitely smarter and more logical in everything he does. And the little kid was quiet and said some pretty weird things. I don't think he'll be much help to you."

"I agree with most of that," Mitarai added. "The man was definitely the most intelligent of the three, though he is a little over-confident. The woman is by far the strongest, but she's a little reckless, she's arrogant and she's disrespectful."

"You're just saying that because she kept calling you Semen," Amanuma muttered.

"It was disrespectful," Mitari argued. "We came here to help her!"

"She kept asking me if I was a professional baiter," Amanuma said.

"A professional baiter?" Kurama repeated. "Why would she ask you that?"

"Because my name is Gamemaster."

Kurama frowned for a moment before realisation struck him and his eyebrows shot up.

"I think that's disrespectful," Mitarai said. "Though she is very strong. And the little boy was quite strange. He didn't seem very capable. I thought that maybe he was just nervous, but he answered questions so calmly, I don't think he was. He seems pretty young."

"I was twelve when I teamed up with Sensui," Amanuma reminded him.

"Yes and you made many foolish mistakes that could only be expected of someone so young," Mitarai replied.

Amanuma looked a little perturbed by Mitarai's reply, but he said no more.

"Thank you again for your help," Kurama said. "I may call on you again."

"Any time," Amanuma replied.

Kurama waved goodbye to them both and started towards the temple again, stopping abruptly after just three strides as he noticed a lone figure sitting on the roof of the porch, watching him silently. Kurama turned his head to look back over his shoulder, holding the pose for just long enough to confirm that Mitarai and Amanuma's car was pulling away before turning back at the exact moment that the figure leapt from the roof and landed on the lawn in front of him.

"Hello," Kurama said, hiding his concerns behind a mask of calm.

"Hi," Akira replied, avoiding looking directly at him.

"Is this your shift on guard?" Kurama asked.

Akira nodded.

"Well, good luck," Kurama said.

He stepped around Akira, but stopped short as the emiko turned to him suddenly.

"Please wait," he said, stretching out his hands to block Kurama's passage.

Kurama turned his attention back to Akira, who continued to avoid looking directly back at him.

"Um, I was talking to my mom about everything that happened last night," Akira said, awkwardly tugging at the sleeve covering his still mostly limp right arm. "And she said I should apologise to you. So… Yeah…"

Kurama stepped back to bring himself fully in front of Akira.

"What are you apologising for?" he asked.

"I guess for being rude when you tried to help me," Akira replied. "My mom said I should have just taken the antidote you offered me. She said what I said about alfalfa was really rude. And she said it was wrong for me to tell you that I wouldn't try to save everybody in a siege."

Kurama nodded slowly.

"Do you think what you said is wrong?" he asked.

Akira shook his head.

"Then why are you apologising for it?" Kurama asked.

"My mom said I should," Akira replied.

"Do you always do what your mother tells you to?"

To Kurama's surprise, Akira nodded.

"You're very close to your mother," he commented.

Akira nodded again.

"I can appreciate that, but it doesn't change the fact that what you said implies you wish to fight alone, and not as part of a team."

Akira finally met Kurama's eyes, looking suddenly strangely curious.

"We have to be able to work as a team to defeat the enemy we face," Kurama explained. "But if you are only concerned with one person, you are operating on your own agenda and you are not contributing to the team. Do you understand?"

"I thought you were mad because you thought I hated everyone else," Akira replied. "It's not that I don't want to help the team. It's just that I wouldn't be strong enough to save everyone in a situation like that. I would have to choose one person. And I don't want to fight. At all. If I could, if there was a place I could escape to, I'd take my mom and go there right now and never come back."

"Would you just be running away from the fight, or is there something else you're keen to leave behind?" Kurama asked.

"What do you mean?" Akira asked, looking vaguely suspicious.

"Let me put that question to you in a different way: is Akira your real name?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"You aren't known as any other aliases?"

"What's an "aliases"?"

Kurama could not tell if Akira was feigning ignorance or not – though if he was pretending, he was doing a quite stellar job of appearing convincing for such a young child.

"An alias is a false name," Kurama offered.

"Oh," Akira said.

Kurama started to lose focus slightly, but he snapped back to attention at Akira's next words.

"You mean like Tetsuo Shima?"

That was not exactly the name Kurama had seen on the list outside the Spirit World prison, but it was alarmingly close.

"Is that a name you are also known by?" he asked.

Akira shook his head, but Kurama did not feel any less suspicious.

"Then why did you say it?" he asked.

Akira shrugged. Kurama wanted to push the matter, but, as he looked down at the large eyes looking back up at him, it occurred to him that he was trying to reason with a child who was clearly more than a little naïve even for his age, and who had a worrying lack of morals that were only barely held in check by his over-riding devotion to his mother: who was, thankfully, Yukina, someone incapable of a bad thought against anyone.

"I'll prepare another antidote for you," he said instead.

"Thank you," Akira replied.

He looked quite innocent in normal conversation, but Kurama still could not escape the memory of how he had so confidently declared that he was only concerned with his own mother in a crisis, and the fact that he was an enemy of Spirit World suggested there was a darker side of him that he was successfully hiding behind his outward appearance. Kurama nodded at Akira and continued into the temple, reminding himself as he went that the very fact that Akira had still managed to get up onto the roof and jump down despite still suffering from the effects of the Toxic Daffodil proved that he was a lot more capable than he had demonstrated in the simulation the night before. Continuing through the temple, Kurama was surprised at first to find someone else awake: but when he saw who it was, he was somewhat less surprised.

"Good morning Yukina," he said as he joined the ice maiden, who was busying herself sweeping up a mess of dried mud that had most likely been created by Kuwabara after his efforts tidying up the grounds outside.

"Good morning," she replied, glancing over at him and briefly smiling.

"I wondered if you and I might discuss something," Kurama began. "It regards the name Tatsuo Shima."

Yukina paused, the sweeping brush midway through a pile of dirt. Kurama saw her distinctly tighten her hold of the broom handle before continuing her task.

"I encountered the name in Spirit World," Kurama continued. "And I thought you might be able to tell me something more about it."

"I'm sorry, I don't know anyone by that name," Yukina replied.

"Are you sure?" Kurama asked.

"Yes," Yukina replied.

"You don't know someone who may also be known by that name?"

"No."

Yukina appeared to be telling the truth, but she was still distinctly tense and, in Kurama's mind, the matter was far from resolved.

* * *

Yusuke was vaguely aware that the others had moved away, climbing back up to the last comfortable ledge they had passed on the way down to the tiny cave, but he could not make his feet move from his position standing, hunched over, in the small hollow, barely illuminated by a torch Hiei had crudely fashioned by igniting a tree root he had salvaged on the way down. It was literally just a small cave with a few inconspicuous talismans hanging on a grubby string. It barely looked significant enough to contain a kitten, far less the vengeful soul of an all-powerful ancient demon. As he watched the light of the torch flickering across the stone surfaces around him, Yusuke heard near-silent footsteps approach and eventually stop at his side.

"We're eating," Hiei greeted him.

"Where did you get food from?" Yusuke asked, keeping his eyes forward as he spoke.

"It's mostly vines and roots," Hiei replied.

"I'll pass," Yusuke said. "I'm trying to cut back on barbs. Helps me stay in shape."

Yusuke looked down at Hiei, who glowered back up at him.

"Not even a smile?" Yusuke asked.

When Hiei did not respond, Yusuke sighed.

"I guess you'd have to understand humans to understand that joke…" he muttered.

"I've never claimed to understand humans," Hiei reminded him.

"No kidding…" Yusuke said.

The two stood in silence for a little before Hiei made a small noise in the back of his throat: Yusuke was unsure if Hiei was aware of this habit, but he had observed that it was something the emiko did when he wanted to voice an opinion on something but wanted to be asked before he spoke. It was not that Hiei typically held back his own opinion, it was more that, in some situations, he wanted to appear as though he did not care or had not noticed something, and he would wait for someone to ask him for his opinion before he inevitably gave it with a caveat along the lines of "not that I care" or "it's so trivial to me but".

"Didn't think we'd have lost two members of our team this early in the fight," Yusuke commented. "I kinda feel like it's my fault. Well, I feel like Shishi's death was my fault. Rinku's death was all your fault, Hiei."

"You don't take any blame for not noticing that Risho was our enemy all along?" Hiei asked.

"I said I didn't trust him," Yusuke reminded him. "But at least I didn't just kill him without waiting to find out the facts."

"Apparently you don't understand what we're up against here," Hiei replied. "If you hesitate, we all die."

"Would you have killed me that quickly if the rock had bit my hand off?"

"I didn't see you put your hand in the rock yet."

"You didn't put your hand in there either. Oh, and hey, wasn't the whole thing faked by Risho anyway?"

"You're missing the point."

"You're missing the point. You killed one of our friends for no good reason."

"Stopping the Dark Force and saving the lives of everyone you care about isn't a good reason?"

"Okay Hiei, why don't you answer the question I just asked you instead of trying to change the subject?"

Yusuke turned towards Hiei who responded by turning to face him. Had the situation not been so serious, Yusuke might have found it amusing that whilst he was ducking down to fit inside the cave, even though Hiei was standing upright, the ends of his spiked hair barely brushed against the cave roof.

"Would you kill me as quickly as you did with Rinku if some asshole we haven't seen since the Dark Tournament told you I was your enemy?" Yusuke asked.

"Yes I would," Hiei replied.

Yusuke could barely believe Hiei's calm demeanour and the way he had answered so brutally and so quickly, without even a hint of remorse about him.

"I can't believe you just said that!" Yusuke snapped at him. "I can't believe you're acting this way!"

"I can't believe you're acting this way," Hiei stubbornly replied. "Don't you care about your friends? I thought you did. I thought they were your motivation. If that's true then you should be prepared and willing to kill me or anyone else you have to."

"You're one of my friends, Hiei!" Yusuke cried. "Maybe I don't want to kill you because I care about keeping you alive!"

"You're being foolish and selfish!"

"Oh yeah? Alright Hiei, let's say that Mouth of Truth had bitten off Yukina's hand. Would you have killed her as quickly as you killed Rinku?"

When Hiei visibly faltered Yusuke grinned darkly.

"Ha!" he said, pointing at Hiei accusingly, the tip of his index finger almost touching Hiei's nose. "You couldn't do it! You've got double standards! You're standing here trying to tell me I'm weak or stupid because I can't just kill someone, but you're not any different – well, except that you've got less friends than me so your standard of who you think is fair game is lower than mine – but you're still accusing me of something you're guilty of too!"

Hiei slapped Yusuke's pointing finger away, but otherwise did not respond.

"Hey wait a minute…" Yusuke said, his anger fading and his face dropping as the horror of realisation took over. "You said you would kill me but you didn't answer about Yukina… Does that mean Yukina is the only person you give a damn about? Hey… I thought we were friends…?"

Hiei sighed.

"You're reacting this way because you don't understand what it means to be a victim of the Dark Force," he said.

"So then explain it to me," Yusuke retorted. "And you'd better make it sound worse than having one of my friends cut my head off!"

"Decapitation is a quick and painless death," Hiei replied. "If the Dark Force manages to take control of you, you will be forced to do and say things you never would, and, inside the sanctity of your own mind, you will be screaming at yourself to stop, but you will be powerless against it. At no point will you have even enough strength to do something as simple as hold your breath. The Dark Force wants it that way, because as you suffer internally from what you are doing externally, your suffering feeds it. And it's not just that you will be made to do and say things you never normally would, you will also be made to do and say things you always hoped you would not."

"What do you mean by that?" Yusuke asked.

"Have you ever had a negative thought about someone you care about? Ever wished you could slap Keiko back? Ever wanted to tell Kuwabara how embarrassing he can be? Ever imagined yourself having sex with Kuwabara's sister?"

"What?"

"Because if you have ever thought about any of those things, in a dark way, in a part of your mind where you imagine things you would never conscionably act out, you will be made to act them all out. If the Dark Force takes control of you, you will slap Keiko, you will tell Kuwabara how much his inferiority embarrasses you and then you will force yourself upon his sister. That is the reality. Wouldn't you rather die swiftly and painlessly than suffer through all that?"

"Okay first of all, I've never imagined having sex with Shizuru. Second of all, I've slapped Keiko before, it's just the way we are with each other, and she'd rather I slapped her than you killed me without helping me. Next of all, you've obviously been reading my mind, you sneaky little bastard, and it was just that one time when I was going through a phase or something. And second, I don't think Kuwabara is an embarrassment, and any time he has embarrassed me, it hasn't been because he was weak, and I've always told he was embarrassing me because it's too funny not to tell him. And C, any thoughts I had about Shizuru weren't about me forcing it onto her, it was the other way around – which you should know anyway since you apparently read my mind, you nosy little bastard!"

Hiei gave Yusuke one of those thin-eyed, high-eyebrowed, straight-mouthed looks Yusuke really hated being on the receiving end of.

"Like you've never imagined it!" he snapped defensively. "It doesn't mean anything! I've imagined it with Botan and even Yukina too! What do you think about that, three eyes?"

"You'll have to repeat the question," Hiei said, pretending to clean out one of his ears with his little finger. "I couldn't hear anything over your irrational and desperate denial."

"You said the Dark Force would make me force myself onto girls if it got inside my head," Yusuke growled. "But you also said it would make me do things I'd only imagined doing but never acted on because my conscience wouldn't let me. And now I'm telling you that I've never imagined myself forcing myself onto anyone. I always imagine it the other way around because that's the way I like it."

"That… Was more information than I ever needed or even wanted to know about you."

Hiei looked a little sweaty and tense, but Yusuke was still irritated and beyond caring how uncomfortable Hiei felt.

"Don't act like you've never thought about it," Yusuke grumbled.

"I can honestly tell you I have never thought about Kuwabara's sister tying me up and melting hot candle wax over my back."

"You did read my mind!"

"I didn't have to. You're so predictable."

"Oh yeah? Well if you're so smart and you can see everything – with or without your freaky extra eye – why couldn't you see that Rinku was innocent and Risho was possessed?"

"It's not that simple."

"You said right at the start that you could see through it! You said if someone was possessed, you'd be able to see it with your magic eye!"

Hiei turned his head away and Yusuke felt his anger fade as concern began to creep over his mind.

"You can't tell the difference, can you?" he asked quietly. "You thought you'd be able to, but now you realise you can't, right?"

Hiei grunted out a non-committal response, but kept his head turned away and his eyes averted from Yusuke.

"Damn…" Yusuke said. "If you can't even use your abilities to pick out a fake, what chance do the rest of us stand of ever knowing the difference? Jin and Touya couldn't tell that Risho was possessed, and they knew him well enough that they should have noticed if there was something obviously different about him…"

"And that's the essence of what we're up against," Hiei quietly replied, looking up at Yusuke from the corner of his eye.

"Well then… If that's true… Any one of us could be possessed right now: even you or me. And we wouldn't know until it's too late."

"We shouldn't split up the group again. There's less chance of being caught out if we remain as a single unit. The Dark Force is too weak to take us all on at once, but it could quickly and easily pick us off one by one if we let it – just like it did with Shishiwakamaru. If you care about your friends' deaths then you should honour their memory by learning from the mistakes made when they perished, and the mistake we made when Shishiwakamaru died was that we split up."

Yusuke slowly nodded, but, as Hiei turned fully towards him again, staring up at him with a vaguely accusatory glint in his eye, his words suddenly took on another meaning entirely.

"Is that your way of saying me and you should go back to sit with the others?" Yusuke asked. "Because you think maybe I came down here alone because I'm the bad guy's latest puppet and you think I lured you down here to take you out next?"

"That wasn't what I said," Hiei replied.

Yusuke relaxed a little.

"Though it is a possibility."

Yusuke's face dropped.

"Maybe you're the one who's possessed and you came down here to finish me off while I'm on my own…" he pointed out.

"Maybe," Hiei immediately replied.

"You're not reassuring me here, Hiei."

"I'm not trying to."

Yusuke flinched.

"Let's go eat some worms or whatever the hell it is they're cooking up there."

"Agreed."

Yusuke turned and started to scramble out of the cave, only to stop abruptly partway up as the thought occurred to him that he was moving through a long, steep, dark corridor and Hiei was right behind him. Just as he started to wonder if he would have time to defend himself if someone as fast as Hiei stabbed him in the back, Yusuke quickly shook the thought off.

It was ridiculous if he could not even trust his own friends and allies.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** The LW team receive a report of trouble in Japan's top suicide hot-spot and head off to investigate, Ayame lures Botan to a dark part of Spirit World to tell her some hard facts about how to survive the Dark Age, and as their investigation gets underway, Kurama loses yet more faith in the stability of the LW team. **Chapter 10 – A Thousand Trees**


	10. A Thousand Trees

**A/N:** Hmm, there are no DW scenes in this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 10 – A Thousand Trees**

Kurama was so engrossed with watching Kuwabara and Yukina attempt to reunite a stray bunny with a group of other rabbits by the edge of the forest, so caught up in the wonder of their innocence, so amazed by just how absorbed they were both in their task and in each other, that he did not notice that someone was approaching him at first. When he did sense someone moving in his direction he turned, expectant of finding Kaisei – who was taking his turn on guard – approaching to report something he had witnessed; and so when he saw Fubuki walking towards him he was at first a little surprised.

"It's such a nice day," she said with a sigh as she stopped at his side. "It's hard to believe we might be on the brink of a war of the worlds. I guess we should enjoy the calm while we still can, right?"

"The quiet is almost worse than the action," Kurama solemnly replied.

Fubuki tilted her head and pouted.

"Do you wish you were in Demon World with your friends?" she asked.

Kurama looked over at Kuwabara and Yukina again. He did wish that he was in Demon World, if only because he felt that he had no control over anything and that the situation there was surely more desperate. The longer things remained calm and quiet in the living world – and the more the sun shone and everyone went about their summer as they usually would – the more he felt out of place.

"Selfishly I wish I was there," he admitted. "But logically, I understand why I am not."

Fubuki nodded and then slid closer to him, bumping her hip against his.

"Is it because you and me are the only ones fit enough to take on the Big Bad?" she asked, winking at him as he gave her an awkward smile.

"You don't think Kuwabara, your brother or Akira are capable fighters?" he asked her.

Fubuki shrugged.

"I know I'm better than my brother," she said. "Akira's just a kid – I'm sure, when he gets to our age, he'll be way stronger – and Kuwabara…"

She turned and purposefully looked across the lawn at Kuwabara and Kurama copied her action, finding his friend in a small panic as the baby bunny had bitten into one of his fingers and Yukina was preventing him from shaking it off.

"You shouldn't underestimate Kuwabara's ability as a fighter just because he has a kind heart," Kurama said, trying to ignore the way Kuwabara was wincing and sweating as he waited for Yukina to coax the tiny bunny to release his fingers.

"I guess you're right," Fubuki agreed. "I guess maybe he just seems weak because he's relaxing right now and you probably seem stronger because you're so uptight."

"I'm not uptight…" Kurama muttered.

"They are so precious though, aren't they?"

"I'm just trying to make sure everyone is prepared for what lies ahead of us."

"They're so adorable together. But… I've always wondered… She's a demon and he's a human… It must have been difficult for them to decide to be together."

"It's nice that they have each other."

"Yeah. It's so sweet. And it got me thinking, on a nice summer's day like this, especially when we could be facing the end of the world, maybe–"

"Hey!"

Kurama and Fubuki both turned to see someone running towards them. Fubuki grumbled something sarcastic about timing under her breath, but Kurama ignored her as he realised that Kaisei was not approaching them alone.

"We got a message from Spirit World," Kaisei explained, pointing a thumb at the ferry girl at his side.

"Good morning," the ferry girl said, bowing her head. "I witnessed something when I was collecting a soul this morning and Lord Koenma asked me to report it to you."

"Please, go ahead," Kurama said.

She glanced over at Kuwabara as though she expected him to join them, but when a look over his shoulder told Kurama that Kuwabara was still having difficulty with the juvenile rabbit, he shook his head.

"It's fine," he insisted.

"As I was passing over Aokigahara, I noticed a dark energy," the ferry girl explained.

"Surely that's not unusual for Aokigahara?" Kurama replied.

"Aokigahara?" Fubuki asked. "As in Aokigahara forest? As in the Suicide Forest?"

"Yes," the ferry girl confirmed. "And this was different. There's something there, something malevolent, feeding off the despair."

Kurama nodded.

"Thank you for letting us know," he said. "You can tell Koenma we are going to investigate immediately."

The ferry girl nodded and took her leave and Kaisei turned to Fubuki, the two siblings smiling at each other.

"Finally, some action!" Kaisei said.

"Well, not for you," Fubuki replied, pretending to look sympathetic.

"You think you can take this one before I even get a shot in?" he asked.

"No, I think this is your shift on guard, so you have to stay here while me and Kurama investigate."

As Kaisei began to look perturbed and Fubuki continued to tease him, Kurama started towards Kuwabara, who had finally freed himself and started to back away from the rabbits.

"Bad news?" he asked as Kurama reached him.

"Possibly," Kurama replied. "We've had a report of something sinister in Aokigahara."

Kuwabara turned pale and gulped audibly, but tried to look unaffected.

"Ah," Kurama said softly. "I don't think it's such a good idea that you come with us."

A psychic as sensitive as Kuwabara would surely be driven mad by the negativity and despair in the infamous forest. Kurama looked back over his shoulder at the still quarrelling siblings, feeling control of the situation rapidly slipping through his fingers.

"Where's Akira?" he asked as he turned back to Kuwabara.

"Sleeping," Kuwabara replied. "After working the dawn guard shift."

"Wake him up," Kurama said.

Kuwabara looked less than pleased with his response, but Kurama ignored him, turning again to the Sato siblings.

"Prepare yourselves for a journey," he told them. "The four of us will go, Kuwabara will remain here and maintain the guard of the safe house."

"Are you sure you don't need me there too?" Kuwabara asked.

"Do we really need to take my brother and the kid?" Fubuki asked.

"We can't underestimate any situation we are called to investigate," Kurama answered. "This may well be a red herring, but it will be a good practise run for a legitimate attack: in future, unless there is a specific reason to do otherwise, whoever is on guard at the time of a call will remain here to protect the safe house, and the other four of us will go to investigate."

"What if the call comes in between shifts?" Fubuki asked. "Like right as we're changing shifts?"

"Then whoever is starting their shift remains," Kurama replied.

"What about if we're sleeping after just finishing a shift?" Kaisei asked.

"Then be prepared to get up in the middle of your resting period," Kurama flatly replied.

"Glad it's not my resting period right now…" Kaisei muttered.

He and Fubuki exchanged amused looks but Kurama turned back to Kuwabara.

"Stay here, make sure nobody leaves and don't leave yourself," he said. "If anything untoward happens or if you receive any reports of any further incidents, call me on my communicator."

Kuwabara nodded and Kurama started to leave before stumbling to a slightly awkward halt as he remembered that his communicator was in Akira's hands.

"Call Kaisei on his communicator," he corrected himself.

"Okay…" Kuwabara replied, looking mildly confused.

Kurama continued back towards the temple, only stopping when Yukina ran past him with surprising agility. She glanced over her shoulder and caught his eye, apparently having suspected that he would look her way.

"I'll wake Akira," she called back to him.

Kurama nodded, even though she had turned away again and could not see his response, and then turned to Kaisei and Fubuki.

"You'll need money," he told them. "Aokigahara is quite a way from here, and, where possible, we should use transport rather than waste energy running. You'll both need a train ticket to Kawaguchiko Station."

He ran his eyes over Fubuki, who was standing on the lawn bare foot and in a summer dress that bordered on being skimpy.

"And maybe change your clothes," he added.

Kaisei snorted in an amused way and Fubuki slapped his shoulder.

Kurama wondered if he was missing something.

* * *

"Where are we going, exactly? It's a little eerie around here…"

What had started out as a distant mist, loitering over the hilltops, had descended to ground level and become a thick fog that made visibility minimal and seemed to only amplify every sound, including the sounds of twigs snapping under footfalls, which were starting to sound like gunshots in the claustrophobic stillness and silence of the wild woodland.

"Not many come this way. We're quite far into the forest now. Stay close so you don't lose your way."

"That's not very reassuring…"

Botan pouted at the back of Ayame's head, but the sullen ferry girl continued walking at the same smooth yet brisk pace. Ayame seemed to move almost silently along, whereas Botan was stumbling over fallen twigs, tree roots and rocks and she had slipped in moss more times than she could count; including one incident where she had fallen on her rear end and slid down an incline, which had left her with a very unflattering damp green smear down the back of her kimono.

"What is this place, anyway?" Botan asked, peering up through the fog at the barely visible dead tree branches above her head. "And why have I never heard of it before?"

"It's very rare that anyone enters this part of Spirit World," Ayame replied.

"Then why are we entering this part of Spirit World?" Botan asked, shivering against both the cold damp air and the thought of what might be hidden beyond the fog in the depths of the surrounding trees.

"Because I have something to share with you and I need to take you to a remote location where there is no risk of us being disturbed."

Botan tensed slightly. Being lured off to a remote location by someone she thought she could trust seemed like a situation that might arise after the Dark Force had consumed one of her friends. As far as she was aware, the Dark Force was still restricted to Demon World, but Koenma had said that it would enter Spirit World next: was this the beginning of the enemy's attack on Spirit World, she wondered?

"You're in a very difficult position," Ayame continued as they walked on. "And we don't know what lies ahead of us, so we have to be prepared."

"Is this about Akira?"

Botan yelped as Ayame stopped so abruptly that she almost walked into the back of her.

"No Botan," Ayame said, looking back over her shoulder at Botan. "This is about you."

"Oh," Botan said, trying to look sensible despite feeling even more unsettled than before.

Ayame paused for a moment, staring directly into Botan's eyes in a way that, despite the fact that she found it intimidating, Botan could not make herself look away from. Ayame then turned silently and continued on and Botan was forced to hurry after her, inwardly hoping that their journey would not take much longer. It felt as though they had been walking for hours – their journey had started in the air aboard their oars, but Ayame had signalled for Botan to land as they passed the outskirts of the grounds of King Enma's temple, and from there they had continued on foot. At first Botan had not minded the walk, as the countryside around the temple was very picturesque. However, after passing through a narrow, winding valley, they had arrived in a dull and darker landscape that had ultimately taken them into the creepy, foggy forest. And just as Botan thought that the forest could not get any creepier and that she could not feel any more apprehensive or afraid, an imposing shadow appeared ahead of them and, as they drew closer to it, it began to take shape.

Botan was not surprised – though she was still disappointed – when Ayame stopped immediately in front of the enormous tree, with a trunk that Botan guessed was probably thicker than she was tall. She looked up the length of the tree and concluded that even if it was not so terribly foggy, she would not be able to see the very top of the tree. It was every bit as eerie as the other trees around her, with branches that grew at sharp and jagged angles, and, just like the other trees of the forest, it was bereft of foliage. The trees on the edges of the forest had been full of life, but they had gradually become less vibrant as the ferry girls had moved deeper in to the heart of the forest and the fog had started to descend.

"Okay this is easily the biggest and scariest tree I have ever seen in any of the three worlds," Botan concluded. "Even the okunen trees in Demon World look like Acer trees next to this thing. I don't even want to look at it for too long because I'm pretty sure it has an actual face somewhere up there and that it might eat me if I accidentally look it directly in the eye."

Ayame gave Botan a strange, almost admonishing look.

"Okay…" Botan said quietly. "So why are we here?"

"You do know what this tree is, don't you?" Ayame asked her.

The critical and mildly irritated look on Ayame's face made Botan afraid to admit the truth – that she had no idea what the tree was other than exceptionally large and spooky – and so she lied in the hope of restoring her friend's confidence in her.

"Of course!" she replied, suddenly sweating despite the cold.

"Good," Ayame said, relaxing a little then. "There is a common belief that the tree is dead now that it has been drained of its essence, but the truth is, it's not dead, it's merely lying dormant. The energies taken from this tree will return to it if the circumstances are right, and, if the war against the Dark Force reaches our world, I think you can agree that–"

"Okay, I don't know what this tree is or what you're talking about!" Botan blurted out.

Ayame gave her another disapproving and irritated look, but it quickly faded back to her more typical look of neutrality.

"This tree was planted by King Enma, at the dawn of life," she explained. "And he drew energy from this tree to create you."

Botan peered up the length of the tree again.

"I was born from a tree?" she asked.

"Essentially, yes," Ayame replied.

Botan nodded and met Ayame's eyes again.

"That makes sense," Botan said.

She paused and then shook her head.

"No, it doesn't make sense," she said.

Ayame flinched slightly but otherwise maintained her calm façade.

"We were all born from this tree," she explained. "All the ferry girls. This tree was grown to contain the energy needed to create us. When a ferry girl dies, her energy is returned to the tree, and another can be created."

"That's… Efficient... A little clinical and cold, but… So does this make you my sister?"

"Try to stay focused Botan, this is important."

"Okay, I'm sorry."

"During the last Dark Age, the Dark Force invaded Spirit World, but it didn't manage to conquer this realm. It killed all of the ferry girls, which caused havoc in the living world, and it did cause a lot of trouble there, but its advance was halted here and it was ultimately sent back to its prison thanks to the power of this tree."

"The Dark Force killed all the ferry girls in the last Dark Age?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because without us to ferry the souls of the dead, the afterlife is sent into chaos and Spirit World ceases to function properly. It's the quickest and easiest way to disable this world and to wreak havoc in the living world when the people there discover that they are either trapped ghosts or else immortal."

Botan nodded slowly.

"You could have just told me about this you know," she said quietly. "You didn't need to take me all the way out here and show me. I would have believed you."

"I'm not showing you for the sake of it, Botan," Ayame said, her voice gaining an irritated edge. "I'm showing you where this tree is so that you know where to find it when the time comes."

"The time for what? The time to make another ferry girl?" Botan asked. "Ooh, there's a thought: how exactly does one make a ferry girl from a tree? And if someone has to initiate the process – like if I had to initiate the process – would that person be the new ferry girl's father? And in that case, who is my father? If the tree is my mother, I mean?"

"Botan, please try to stay focused," Ayame patiently replied.

"My family tree is already very confusing – oh, that wasn't meant to be a pun because my mother is a literal tree–"

"Botan if the Dark Force comes here, to Spirit World, it will first of all kill all the ferry girls again. You know that obviously you can't die, therefore, as the last ferry girl, you can come to this tree, after the rest of us have died, and you can extract our energy from the tree."

Botan held up a finger to ask a question, but words failed her.

"You know you can't die Botan," Ayame repeated, as though sensing Botan's confusion. "But the rest of us ferry girls will if the Dark Force comes here. The legend of this tree goes that, during the last Dark Age, a normal human woman came here and extracted the spirit energy of all the dead ferry girls and absorbed it into her own being. With that energy, she was powerful enough to drive back the enemy in the living world. Do you understand what I'm telling you, Botan?"

"Not really, but it all sounds so important."

"Botan, if the rest of us are killed, you should come here and absorb our energy into yourself. It will give you immense power and you will be strong enough to join the fight in the living world. Do you understand now?"

"…You want me to absorb all of my dead friends and use their spirit energy to fight demons? I don't even want to think about all of my friends dying and turning into a spooky tree!"

"The Dark Force always attacks Demon World first, then Spirit World and then the living world. In other words before it fully reaches the living world, it always first of all tries to destroy Spirit World, and the first thing it always does in Spirit World is kill the ferry girls. If we are all killed, the SDF will still be in situ, battling the enemy and holding it here, and you will have a narrow window of time to come here, gain our power, and escape to the living world, where you can be ready to fight if the Dark Force reaches that far. Do you understand why that's so important?"

"If I could fight, if I could reach the living world before the Dark Force and fight, my baby wouldn't have to fight."

"Exactly."

Botan nodded.

"Show me how to extract the energy," she said.

Ayame narrowed her eyes slightly.

"You no longer have any qualms about using the energies of your dead friends?" she asked.

Botan slowly shook her head.

"I can't say it wouldn't make me very sad if all my ferry girl friends were killed," she said. "But if that did happen, and taking their energy this way would mean my little pumpkin wouldn't have to fight, then I'll do it."

"Good," Ayame said. "I feel better knowing that, if things do go this way, you will do your part to ensure that our lives were not lost in vain."

"Yes," Botan agreed. "That sounds honourable but if I'm being honest, I wouldn't be doing this so much for you, I'd be doing it because I made a promise – well, that is to say, we made a promise to each other – that we would make it through this alive. And then we're going to live by the seaside."

"That sounds nice. But you will need to return here first and relinquish the energy you absorbed, to allow Spirit World to create more ferry girls."

"…Would that make me the father of all the ferry girls?"

"No."

"Oh."

"Are we clear?"

"I think so. But I really hope it doesn't come to that. I don't want my friends to die."

"Of course not."

Botan tried to smile, though she was not sure why, as she had no real reason to. She supposed it was just a nervous reaction to her situation.

"Can we go back now?" she asked, shivering again as the cold damp air around her seemed to once more soak through her clothing.

"Yes, let's," Ayame replied. "To avoid suspicion, you shouldn't come back here until the time comes for you to absorb the energy."

"Why would anyone be suspicious of me coming here to get stronger and help fight off the enemy?" Botan asked.

"I can give you two reasons," Ayame answered. "First of all, there may already be an enemy among our ranks. Someone within Spirit World may already be under the influence of, or aligned with, the Dark Force. Any such person would try to kill you if they knew you were planning to do this. And also… Botan surely you realise Lord Koenma has a very specific plan for you in this war. He would never let you do this. He wants to keep you protected because you, and you alone, can both trigger and disable his secret weapon. Do you understand?"

Botan nodded.

"Lord Koenma signed a contract," she said. "He promised me we would be free after all of this. But… He doesn't intend to honour that, does he?"

Ayame smiled gently.

"I'm sure Lord Koenma would like to honour such a contract," she said carefully. "But he doesn't have the authority to make such a decision."

"Thank you for sharing all of this with me, Ayame," Botan said.

"You're welcome. Now we should go back. Probably separately. To avoid suspicion."

Botan nodded and summoned her oar.

"I'm going first," she said. "It's too creepy in here for me to stay here even a minute longer."

"We'll go together," Ayame replied, summoning her own oar. "We fly straight up from this point. You go left, I'll go right. I will approach from the west wing of the temple, you approach from the east."

Botan took a moment to consider how bad things had become that she needed to keep such secrets from Koenma before hopping onto her oar and rising up into the sky. From above the blanket of fog, the forest was just a dark patch that seemed to go on as far as the eye could see in every direction: but the enormous tree Ayame had taken her to was so tall, it grew through and above the fog to such a height that, from Botan's vantage point high in the sky, it looked as though it was an ordinary tree from within the forest, planted into the fog itself.

Botan waited until Ayame had risen up and taken off before moving off in the opposite direction herself; and as she departed the area, Botan tried to ignore her creeping feeling of guilt.

Ayame was a good friend to tell Botan what she had, and Botan would have liked to have honoured the details of what Ayame had explained to her.

But, if the Dark Force really did kill all the ferry girls, if Botan really was forced to absorb their energy and become a warrior, if she was forced to fight, then once the Dark Force had been vanquished, when – and under what circumstances – she returned to Spirit World to return her newly acquired power would be at her discretion.

And it would be the perfect bargaining chip if Koenma refused to honour the contract he had signed with her.

* * *

"Where's Akira?"

Kurama looked up and down the length of the platform. The train would be leaving in mere seconds, but the lilac-haired emiko had yet to emerge. And, the more Kurama thought about the matter, the more he came to realise that he had in fact not seen hide nor hair of Akira since they had boarded the train.

"I'm surprised the little booger let me out of his sight," Fubuki said with a sigh.

"Yeah, he usually can't get enough of you in those pants," Kaisei replied. "For a little kid, he's kinda pervy, don't you think?"

"I'm his first crush," Fubuki answered her brother. "I'm the standard he will hold all future crushes too."

"Wow," Kaisei groaned. "You're really full of it today, huh?"

"I'm just thinking about all those poor girls in the future who will be compared to me. It's a pretty high standard to live up to. Do you know what Akira likes best about me?"

"Obviously it's not that you're modest…"

"It's my hair. A lot of girls who workout like I do let themselves get a little masculine, but I always condition twice, every morning, and I deep condition ever Sunday and–"

"Hey."

Fubuki stopped, her splayed fingers midway through combing along the length of her ponytail, as Akira leapt out of the carriage they had just left, landing on the platform as the doors began to close.

"Where have you been?" Kurama asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously as he noticed that Akira was wide-eyed and slightly out of breath.

"I was checking out the train," Akira replied.

"You've seriously never been on a train before?" Kaisei asked.

"You've never been on a train before?" Fubuki echoed.

Akira shook his head.

"It's like you weren't even born in this world," Kaisei grumbled, before moving off to consult a nearby street map.

"I wasn't born in this world," Akira answered, watching the back of Kaisei's head with a slightly anxious look.

"I knew it," Fubuki said through a sigh. "The kid's an alien."

She winked at Kurama, but Kurama knew that Akira had not been referring to another planet, but rather another plane of existence: which surely meant that he had been born in Demon World. Kurama wondered if Yukina had returned to the ice village to give birth to her son, but thought it odd that she would choose to do so, knowing the stigma against emikos in the ice village.

"I got to go up front and see the driver," Akira told Fubuki.

Kurama had never seen the kid look or sound so enthusiastic about anything.

"Isn't it all pretty much automated?" Fubuki asked him.

"Yeah, it's awesome!" Akira replied. "And they have an entire carriage that serves tea and cakes and sandwiches and soup! And there are toilets at the end of some of the carriages! And at the front of the train, there are first class seats, and the seats are really huge!"

"Kid, if you've never taken a train before, how have you travelled about?" Fubuki asked. "Didn't you say you had a summer holiday up in Sapporo a few years back? How did you get there if it wasn't by train? Did you take a horse and cart or something?"

"No, we flew there."

"Oh yeah? Did you run around exploring the plane like you just did with the train?"

"…What?"

Fubuki and Akira exchanged confused looks for a moment before Akira suddenly brightened.

"Oh no, we didn't fly by airplane!" he said.

Fubuki's face dropped.

"Did you take a Zeppelin?" she asked sarcastically. "Or did you go in your people's mothership?"

"What's a Zappling?" Akira asked.

"As much fun as this conversation sounds to me, we should move on," Kaisei said as he rejoined the group. "There's a bus service that can take us closer, or we could just run from here."

"We'll take the bus," Kurama said.

"Ever taken a bus before, kid?" Fubuki asked Akira.

"No!" Akira cheerfully replied.

"Damnit…" Fubuki grumbled.

Kaisei turned to Kurama and rolled his eyes and shook his head before starting towards the bus stop. Fubuki and Akira followed and Kurama walked behind them, his attention drifting towards the general direction they were heading. He had never actually visited Aokigahara before, though it was a place so well known, he felt as though he had. As Kuwabara's three students boarded the bus ahead of him, Kurama wondered if they had any idea what lay ahead of them: that there was a very good reason why Kuwabara had been unable to go himself. Even without any potential further presences there, the forest was still famed as being home to the highest concentration of wandering ghosts and the legends about the trees themselves containing demon spirits were not entirely untrue.

But, throughout the entire bus journey, Kaisei buried his face into a book about conspiracy theories and Fubuki humoured Akira's oddly bright conversation about the joys of bus and train travel, all three either oblivious or deliberately pretending not to notice what they were heading into.

When the bus finally reached the public entrance to the forest and all four disembarked, Kurama was immediately hit by two things he had expected to be – namely the sense of nearby lingering ghosts laden with misery and regret and strong suggestions of the typical E-class demons who resided in such parts of the living world and preyed upon the weak – but he was also struck by something else, something darker, something more powerful and far more malignant.

"Wh-what is this place?"

Kurama turned to Akira to answer the boy's question, but stopped short when he saw the suddenly fearful look in his large red eyes. Akira had, oddly, dressed in his usual black outfit, but was not wearing his hood, which only made the fear and apprehension in his paling face all the more obvious.

"Hello," Kaisei muttered. "Looks like someone was expecting us."

"Why is it so quiet?" Fubuki asked.

A passing tourist informed her that the forest was always deathly quiet thanks to the relative absence of wildlife, whilst Kaisei muttered a few comments about how even the birds and woodland critters were sensible enough to stay out of the place.

"Let's not loiter," Kurama said firmly.

He pointed towards the forest path and Kaisei nodded, stowing his book into one of the top pockets of his utility vest before walking on ahead. Fubuki started after him before pausing to look back over her shoulder at Akira.

"Hey Tet, you're supposed to be the scout, remember?" she said. "You should be leading the way."

Akira's eyes grew larger and yet his pupils visibly contracted.

"Get moving, Akira," Kurama said sternly.

Akira looked up at him fearfully, but Kurama held his stance.

"This isn't an exercise, I expect you to take this seriously," Kurama warned him.

Akira looked over at Fubuki, who looked slightly conflicted, but when Kaisei shouted back over his shoulder at him, Akira hurriedly jogged on, moving level with Kaisei, who planted a hand on the boy's back and shoved him forwards. Akira stumbled a few steps before righting himself and continuing on in a way Kurama knew he must know was incorrect. Kurama had seen Akira sneak around in the shadows and so he knew that he knew better than to walk upright in the centre of the path, his head turned upwards, looking around the treetops.

"Hey," Fubuki said softly as she fell into step alongside Kurama. "It is kinda creepy in here."

"What were you expecting?" Kurama asked.

"I'm fine with it," she whispered back. "But I'm not so sure about Akira. Come on, what is he, like eight years old? He seems kinda scared. This is a super creepy place for a little kid like him. I know he's really creepy himself, but even for a creepy kid like him, this is pretty intense."

"We all have a role to play in this," Kurama firmly replied. "And Akira's role is as our scout. If he can't do this for us, then he can't do anything, and we should consider replacing him."

Fubuki gasped but Kurama ignored her. She fell slightly behind him then but he pressed on, all four then walking in a line a roughly equal distance apart, with Akira leading, followed by Kaisei, then Kurama and with Fubuki in the rear. They continued along some distance before Akira suddenly stopped, his arms splaying at his sides in what was a clear indication of him having sensed something alarming. Kaisei stopped and held up a hand to the others behind him, who both stopped on point. Akira glanced very briefly over his shoulder at the others before moving onwards in a diagonal motion, eventually leaving the forest path and clambering down into a hollow in the ground. He disappeared from sight, and for several seconds there was no sign of him or anything he may have found.

Then Kurama heard a distinct, shuddering gasp.

Fubuki leapt forwards, stopping when both Kaisei and Kurama held up a hand for her to halt.

"What the hell is wrong with you guys?" she hissed, glaring at them both. "He's just a kid, you pair of assholes!"

Kurama was so taken aback with the genuinely angered way Fubuki glowered at both him and her brother that he did not respond when she ran after Akira. Kaisei was the first to recover from the moment, starting off at a brisk walking pace, and, once he had taken a moment to wonder if maybe it had been a bad idea to expect a young, unstable child to act as scout in such a location, Kurama moved over to join Kaisei by the edge of the ditch.

Inside the ditch itself, Akira was standing with his back to Kurama and Kaisei, visibly shaking all over, his head turned in the direction of a long, low, narrow, horizontal cave at the back of the ditch, inside which lay the still quite fresh corpse of a middle-aged man who had apparently taken his own life after swallowing some kind of poison. He had choked up blood and foam, which was barely congealed over his face, and his legs were bent at awkward angles, supported up by the rocks beside him, his hands clutching at his half-open shirt in what had clearly been a horrific asphyxiated struggle during his last moments of life.

"Make it stop!"

Kurama frowned. Akira's voice sounded so different, he barely even recognised it as his.

"It's okay," Fubuki said gently. "He's gone to a better place now, right? He was in a lot of pain, that's what you can see here in his body, but his soul has gone to a beautiful, peaceful, happy place where he's safe and he'll never feel pain again."

"No!" Akira cried.

Kurama was surprised to actually hear that Akira had shouted loudly enough that his ragged voice echoed off the tall, narrow and densely packed trees around them.

"Hey, you remember Botan, right?" Fubuki said, smiling warmly at Akira. "You like Botan, don't you? You remember Botan, the pretty ferry girl with the blue hair? A ferry girl just like her came to tell us about this place, and I bet it was her who took this man's soul to the afterlife. Isn't that nice? A nice lady just like Botan is looking after this guy now. You see? It's all okay."

"No it's not!" Akira wailed. "It's not okay! Spirit World is a horrible place! There's more evil there than there is here! And… Why is there so much blood? I can smell it! It's everywhere! Why is there so much blood?"

Akira was starting to hyperventilate, and as though there was any doubt that he was panicking beyond logic, he began looking about the ground at his feet desperately.

"Am I standing in it?" he asked.

Fubuki looked over at the corpse, which was several feet away from them and had barely spilled any blood beyond the cave it was laid in, before turning back to Akira and shaking her head.

"No, it's fine," she said. "You're fine, it's okay."

"It's on my boots!" Akira said, pointing a shaking, bandaged finger at one foot. "I'm standing in it! Make it stop!"

Kaisei leapt down into the pit and grabbed a handful of the back of Akira's shirt, hauling him back. He staggered back and, as Kaisei released him, he turned to look up at him, his face moving into the light. Based on the tone and unevenness of his voice, Kurama knew that it was only logical that Akira had been crying; but somehow seeing his eyes blurred and his pale face stained with shed tears was still a surprising sight to behold, especially after the boy had remained so poker-faced when claiming not to care if his beloved Aunty Shizuru was captured and tortured to death by demons.

"Get a grip," Kaisei said, pointing a finger at Akira's nose. "Man up."

"Kai, he's just a little kid," Fubuki said. "Give him a break. Finding a dead body like this is pretty heavy stuff for a kid."

"We'd slaughtered more demons than we could count by the time we were his age," Kaisei replied.

"But we'd never seen the dead body of a human suicide victim," Fubuki pointed out. "Give him some slack on this one."

Kaisei appeared to consider his sister's words for a moment before shaking his head.

"Is this why you stopped us, or is there something here worth investigating?" Kaisei asked Akira.

"I don't know," Akira whimpered. "I just… I don't know!"

"Well you don't go find out?" Kaisei asked.

He poked two fingers into one of Akira's shoulder and pushed with enough force to make the emiko stagger back a step.

"Hey, go easy!" Fubuki said, holding up a hand to her brother.

"Seriously Fubu, I'm sick of this kid," Kaisei tightly replied. "And you're starting to sound as bad as Kuwabara, always making excuses for him. I maybe wasn't as fast as he is when I was his age, but I sure as hell wasn't some freak who pissed his pants over a bit of blood."

Fubuki gave Kaisei an incredulous look before turning to Kurama as though she expected him to choose a side in their argument. Kaisei meanwhile turned his attention back to Akira.

"If you think there's something in there, or if you don't know, there's only one way to know for sure," he said. "Get in there and find out."

Akira looked back over his shoulder at the cave before turning back to Kaisei with enormous eyes, a single tear rolling down one cheek.

"I-in there?" he asked. "W-with the dead body?"

"Yes," Kaisei replied.

Akira shook his head and Kaisei lost his patience.

In the moment before a three-way scuffle broke out in the base of the ditch, an odd thought occurred to Kurama: Akira's tears were just ordinary tears.

In the same way that Akira could use spirit energy despite being an emiko, apparently his tears were just one more clue that he was not a true emiko, and that apparently only a demon man could father a true emiko with an ice maiden.

After all, as he had witnessed during the last Demon World Tournament, when Hiei had fought against an enemy that has used an irritating gas as a weapon, a true emiko was capable of producing hirui stones just like an ice maiden.

But oddly Akira did not have that ability.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** Yusuke does some detective work at High Road and concludes that Hiei might be linked to the devastation there, Kaisei and Akira come to blows and afterwards Kaisei tells Kurama something odd about Akira, Hiei tells Kurama about the deaths in Demon World, and Kuwabara tries to convince Kurama not to take drastic action against Akira after the events in Aokigahara. **Chapter 11 – Another Chance**


	11. Another Chance

**Chapter 11 – Another Chance**

Yusuke paused, hanging onto the wall of the crater by one hand, his legs dangling freely beneath him, as he ran his free hand over the surface of an underground rock that had become exposed by the creation of the hole. The rock had clearly been much larger originally, but a chunk of it had been blasted away by whatever had created the crater. The description the others had given of the blast was that it had occurred above ground and that it had been like a massive release of energy; but such a blast would have created a staggered crater into the ground, a rounded dent that sloped inwards towards the epicentre of the blast. And such a mode of destruction would not have severed the rock by Yusuke in such a vertical and straight manner. Such a blast would more likely have crumbled or impacted the rock, not severed it straight downwards.

Looking back down into the depths of the crater – which was really more of a cylindrical hole than a crater – Yusuke thought that the rock was not the only illogical part of the destruction caused.

As he continued climbing upwards, Yusuke silently wondered if he had actually learned some skills of observation during his time as a spirit detective or if he had always had a talent for noticing such clues and that was perhaps partly why Koenma had employed him in the role.

Back up on the cracked remains of the road, Yusuke began walking around the edge of the crater, but instead of looking into the pit itself, he looked in the opposite direction of it, looking at the area around the edge of the damage for any further clues as to what had really happened. It had, according to the others, been more than four years since the blast, which meant that weather alone would have taken care of ridding the site of most physical clues, but there was still a chance of finding a shoe or other item of clothing, a dropped piece of jewellery or other personal item, a rock out of place or even evidence of a shoddy cover-up job after the event that indicated guilt.

Yusuke walked around three quarters of the hole before he found a single thing out of place, and, at first, the thing he did see was so small, he was sure he had imagined it at first glance. He casually looked about himself to ensure that the others were still sleeping and none had followed him up to the surface – they had agreed to stop to sleep and decreed that two of them would each take a shift watching guard, and, after losing at rock, paper scissors, Yusuke had been designated the first shift – before casually walking down over upturned earth, his hands in his pockets, towards the small object that almost looked like a tiny light-bulb, shining out of the ground itself. He tapped at it with the toe of his shoe, disturbing the ground around it and also confirming that it was what he had suspected it to be, before pausing long enough to be sure that he was alone and then swiftly snatching the small hirui stone up.

Yusuke closed his fist around the stone, shaking his wrist to roll the stone around against his palm, removing the dirt from it as he casually moved a few steps further away from the road. He then opened out his hand again, looking down at the almost clean and flawlessly brilliant gemstone resting in the centre of his hand. Yusuke freely acknowledged that he knew little about Demon World, but one thing he did know was how to identify a real and a good quality hiruiseki – there were so many counterfeits and so many grades of stones out there affecting their value, learning the basic skill of differentiating between them had been compulsory for him – and he could immediately tell that the stone in his hand was both genuine and of exceptionally high quality. It was easily worth ten standard hiruiseki.

Yusuke had never found a dropped or stray hiruiseki before. Hiruiseki were not like cash in the living world, which could regularly be found lost in various denominations. Hiruiseki were more like diamonds in the living world: the only ones that ever were left abandoned were the fakes. The other team members had said that High Road had been closed since the explosion, which most likely meant that the hiruiseki had been dropped there just before – or exactly when – the explosion happened, because otherwise it would have been found and taken long ago. Yusuke lifted a foot to walk on, only to freeze the instant before his foot touched the ground. He frowned and slowly raised his foot again, looking down to see a second hiruiseki on the ground where he had been about to place his foot.

Muttering a curse of genuine disbelief, Yusuke crouched down and retrieved the stone, pausing again there as his eyes caught the flicker of a third stone nearby. And then a fourth. And another two. And a clump of four together.

Yusuke grabbed up every stone, walking around the area a few times more to be sure that he had every last one before stopping to count his collection.

It was impossible that anyone would leave fourteen hiruiseki of such fine quality lying about. The stones also look strangely familiar.

They looked like the stones Yusuke and Kurama had forcibly recovered from the tournament arena during the most recent Demon World Tournament.

They looked identical to the hiruiseki Hiei had shed during his surprise first round defeat at the hands of a demon who used various smokes and gases as weapons.

And in that moment, as he studied the stones in his hand, it occurred to Yusuke that, of everyone within his group, Hiei was the only one who had not accounted for his whereabouts on the day of the explosion on High Road. Hiei worked the Border Patrol and he had mentioned patrolling High Road on every shift he worked, so surely if he had not actually been in the immediate vicinity of the event, he must have at the very least felt something or heard another of the patrol units reporting the incident.

But oddly he had not mentioned any of that to anyone.

Yusuke did not like to think that Hiei was hiding something, but the evidence against him was mounting.

* * *

"I-in there? W-with the dead body?"

"Yes."

Akira shook his head and Kaisei gave a small growl and placed a hand on Akira's chest, presumably to once again shove him back towards the cave; but the instant his hand made contact Akira's face changed – only briefly, but not so briefly that Kurama missed the distinct flare of outraged anger in his eyes – and he slapped Kaisei's hand away.

"Don't touch me!" he yelled.

"Then get moving!" Kaisei yelled back.

Akira clutched a hand protectively to his chest and stared up at Kaisei, his eyes dried of tears but his entire body still visibly shaking.

"I can't," he said weakly.

"Get in there, or I will put you in there myself!" Kaisei warned.

"Kaisei, what the hell is wrong with you?" Fubuki yelped.

"I'm so sick of this snot-nosed little brat refusing orders all the time!" Kaisei snapped.

"Let it go, Kai!" Fubuki insisted. "There's obviously nothing down there, it's just another guy who came here to kill himself. This whole forest is full of guys like him. The kid just panicked because he saw a dead body: let's just move on!"

"I'm not moving until this kid stops acting like such a baby."

"Kurama!"

Kurama flinched as Fubuki practically screamed his name, turning urgent pink eyes to him as though she expected him to wade into the conflict. When he did nothing other than look back at her, she balled her hands into fists and leapt back up out of the ditch in two strides, landing on the path at his side in what was quite an impressive display of agility.

"Do something!" she implored.

Kurama turned to her, but from the corner of his eye he saw Kaisei continue his argument with Akira.

"Get in there!" he growled, reaching out his hand towards Akira's chest again.

Akira bowed back out of his reach, his eyes changing and gaining a strange focus as he looked directly into Kaisei's eyes.

"I said don't touch me," he said in a low voice.

"Would you just stop being such a brat about this?" Kaisei growled back.

"If you try to touch me there again, I won't hesitate to defend myself," Akira said. "Do you understand me?"

"Are you threatening me?" Kaisei asked.

"No, I'm warning you," Akira replied.

"Same thing."

"No it's not. A threat is a suggestion of something. A warning is a declaration of something that will happen."

"Are you giving me grammar lessons now? Seriously kid, get the hell in there!"

Kaisei shoved the heel of his hand into Akira's chest and, without moving any other part of his body or breaking the intense way he was staring into Kaisei's eyes, Akira grabbed a hand around Kaisei's wrist and gripped down tightly. Kaisei gasped when the black light first flared around Akira's bandaged little hand, but his gasp quickly dissolved into a cry of alarm that then deteriorated into a genuine cry of pain. As soon as his tone reached a level of desperation, Akira opened his hand and leapt away from Kaisei, wincing slightly and touching his other hand to the crackling collar around his neck. Kaisei pushed up the charred remains of his shirt sleeve and took a moment to inspect the image of small fingers burned into his skin before lifting his head sharply and stalking towards Akira.

Akira held his ground, but he was starting to look panicked again.

"Please don't touch me," he said. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Then what the hell do you call this, huh?" Kaisei asked through tightly clenched teeth as he held up his injured wrist in front of Akira's face.

"I asked you to stop, and you wouldn't," Akira said, his expression breaking slightly. "I didn't have any other choice."

Kaisei paused before raising his hand to slap Akira; but, to Kurama's surprised, Fubuki dived back into the ditch and staggered in between the two boys, facing her brother.

"Stop it!" she demanded. "He's just a kid, Kai! He's just a scared little kid!"

Kaisei shook his head and spat to one side before awkwardly clambering out of the ditch. Kurama watched on curiously as Fubuki turned to Akira, who had started to silently shed tears again.

"Hey kid," she said gently. "We have to move on."

Akira lowered his eyes to the ground.

"It's okay though, I'll walk up ahead with you," Fubuki said. "We can scout together, okay?"

Akira kept his eyes down, but his tears ceased.

"Do you wanna hold my hand?" Fubuki asked.

After everything that she had just witnessed happening, Kurama thought it incredibly bold of Fubuki to offer her hand to Akira, but, without any sense of hesitation or reservation, she held out her hand towards Akira, who nodded and lightly placed his hand in hers.

"Okay, let's go," she said to him.

He lifted his head slightly and together they climbed back up to the forest path. Kaisei watched them go until they were some way ahead before turning to Kurama.

"Did you see what that little brat did to me?" he said, holding out his arm.

"I have healing herbs back at the safe house that can take care of that," Kurama calmly replied, without looking down at Kaisei's injury.

"I'm sick of this," Kaisei grumbled. "It's always like this when there's–"

Kaisei stopped talking so abruptly and his head snapped upwards to quickly that Kurama tensed and copied his action on instinct, despite his better senses having already told him there was nothing nearby worthy of such urgent attention.

"Well, at this time of day it's hard to tell," Kaisei concluded as he lowered his head again. "But I'd bet my entire collection of limited edition trading cards that there's a new moon right now."

"A new moon?" Kurama asked, starting along the path after Fubuki and Akira.

"Yeah," Kaisei replied, joining alongside him. "Every time there's a new moon, the kid flips out for a couple of days. As soon as the moon appears again, he calms down."

"Are you saying Akira consistently exhibits violent behaviour during a new moon?" Kurama asked.

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Kaisei replied. "I mean, he's consistently weird, but usually he's just quiet and submissive. When there's a new moon though, he starts talking more, saying really warped things and sometimes he actually fights back in training sessions. No way would he have done this to me if there wasn't a new moon right now."

Kurama watched Fubuki and Akira moving on in the distance, still holding hands, and Akira crudely dragging the sleeve of his free arm over his nose. In that moment he looked like nothing more than a frightened little child and what Kaisei had just suggested seemed illogical: after all, few demons were affected by lunar cycles, least of all emikos.

"Sometimes I think the kid actually is from another planet," Kaisei grumbled.

"How long have you known Akira?" Kurama asked.

"A little over two years?" Kaisei replied. "I guess just as long as he's been training with us."

"But you started training with Kuwabara before that, yes?" Kurama asked.

"Yeah. Me and Fubuki trained with Kuwabara for about a year before the kid showed up."

"And you'd never met him before that time? You'd never seen him around Kuwabara or Yukina before then?"

"No. Back then, back when we started our training, we only trained for a few hours a day and we didn't live at the safe house like we do now. Kuwabara gave us a few days off, and when we came back, the kid was there."

"And consistently, since the time you first met him, Akira has acted oddly every time there is a new moon?"

"No. At first we thought – well, me and Fubuki that is – we thought that he'd been sick and that was why we'd never seen him before. Because he's family to Kuwabara, right? We thought he'd been in some kinda hospital. He was totally bald and really skinny and he never spoke and he really freaked out if anyone touched him – like way worse than he just did back there. But then after a few months he settled down a bit. Then I noticed that he only acted out sometimes, and after a few times, I noticed it was always when there was a new moon. He's like an inverse werewolf or something: he turns into a little monster when there's no moon."

Kurama nodded, though he did not agree with anything Kaisei was saying. The only thing he had really learned from listening to him (and from witnessing the altercation back at the ditch) was that Kuwabara's three students were incapable of working together as a team. Kaisei and Fubuki had demonstrated in the past that they worked well together, but that day was proving to be an exception: though it seemed that their only area of disagreement and conflict was Akira. As the group continued deeper into the heart of the forest, Kurama began to think that the only logical solution to the problem was to relocate Akira. Koenma was the one who seemed to think the emiko was trustworthy, and Spirit World would be ultimately responsible if they let one of their prisoners act out in the living world, and so it only seemed fair that Spirit World employed Akira as a part of their army in the fight against the Dark Force. He had proven to be of little help in the living world – even Mitarai and Amanuma had said as much about him – and Kurama was not comfortable placing his mother into a supposed safe house if one of the fighters guarding it had biased interests when it came to an emergency situation.

And just as Kurama had decided that he would call Koenma as soon as he returned to the safe house and arrange for Akira to transfer over to the Spirit World team, he distinctly saw Fubuki give the hand signal for him and Kaisei to stop.

On the path ahead Fubuki edged over to duck behind an uprooted tree stump, Akira squatting down beside her. They communicated with each other via further hand signals that were mostly delivered at angles Kurama could not make them out from, before both leaping out from behind opposite sides of their hiding place. As Fubuki charged forwards and Akira leapt up into the trees and out of sight, Kurama turned to Kaisei to see if he could feel what the other two had obviously seen up ahead. When Kaisei signalled that there were two enemies of inferior speed and power but with apparent teleportation abilities, Kurama was quite impressed, nodding his agreement. He then signalled for Kaisei to move and together they started along the path, shortly gaining sight of Fubuki again as she deftly leapt out of the range of a swooping white shape above her head.

"Those are demons," Kurama said.

"Oh really?" Kaisei asked with a smirk. "I thought they were birds."

"What I meant was that those are not demons you would expect to see in this world," Kurama corrected himself. "This is a clear indication that the Border Patrol is no longer functioning, as these creatures – known as dragon fish – rarely travel far from their nesting grounds without being caught."

"Dragon fish, huh? That's original…"

Kaisei raised one arm to block as one of the fanged, white creatures dived at him, but it hurriedly teleported out of sight again when it noticed his preparation. Kurama turned his attention forwards again and again found himself impressed with Fubuki as she managed to evaporate one of the dragon fish with a blast of energy. Despite his earlier assumption that she was slightly unobservant and hasty in battle, she had clearly been watching the beast and counted the pattern it followed when appearing and disappearing, and charged up an attack and taken aim in preparation for its emergence. And she did not brag about her feat when Kurama and Kaisei joined her, rather maintaining her stance and feeling for the return of the second dragon fish. She did not have to wait long, as it shortly slithered through an invisible hole in the air above them, turning its wide, angry jaws towards Kaisei. He evaded its attack and then did something that probably seemed like a good strategy – though for someone as well-versed with the pesky vermin as Kurama was, it was an egregious error of judgement – as he grabbed onto the tip of the scaly demon's tail. He started to haul it upwards, apparently under the misconception that he could incapacitate the creature by holding it upside-down, and failing to notice that its head had arced back up around the other side of his body.

Kurama paused, mostly because he expected Kaisei to detect the attack or else for Fubuki, who was keenly watching on, to intervene: but apparently neither predicted the flexibility of the slippery demon, nor did they expect it to be able to fully rotate its head fully around and take aim to bite a chunk out of the back of Kaisei's head.

In the instant that the tips of the dragon fish's fangs brushed against loose strands of Kaisei's slightly wild brown hair, a dark shape snaked around Kaisei's other side and blasted into the attacking demon. Kaisei yelped and released the tail as it combusted and turned to searing ashes in his hand. As he shook of his hand, a linear wisp of black smoke – all that remained of the second dragon fish – rose and dispersed into the air.

Kaisei and Fubuki looked a little confused but Kurama was not surprised – he had seen Hiei use exactly the same technique when in a bind. Akira dropped silently from a nearby tree – not the same one he had climbed, Kurama noticed – and walked back over to join them.

"I thought Koenma told you not to do that," Kaisei said tightly as Akira stopped beside him.

"The kid just saved your life, doofus," Fubuki dryly pointed out.

"Koenma said he's not supposed to do that black fire thing," Kaisei said. "And he did it. Twice."

He held up his scorched wrist as a reminder that Akira had used the Darkness Flame against him too.

"It was a demon," Akira said solemnly. "I'm allowed to use my demon energy against demons. I'm just not allowed to use it against humans or spirits."

Kaisei gave Akira a disgusted look before turning his back on him.

"Is that what we came here for?" he asked Kurama. "Two flying snakes?"

"We can't be sure of that," Kurama replied. "I suggest we split up and search the forest a little longer."

"This place is huge," Fubuki pointed out. "Even at speed and separating from each other, it would still take a long time to check the whole forest."

Kurama nodded.

"We only need to remain here a little longer to determine if there is anything else present," he said. "Kaisei, you walk in a straight line through the trees to the left. Keep going for half an hour. If you don't find anything in that time, come back to this point. I will do the same through the trees to the right. Fubuki, Akira, you two continue on the path ahead for half an hour. Again, if you don't see or feel anything, come back here."

The others nodded and they started to separate. Kurama waited until Kaisei was some way through the trees before sprinting after Fubuki and Akira.

"Did you find something?" Fubuki asked him as he stopped them.

Kurama shook his head.

"I seem to have misplaced my communicator," he said, ignoring the guilty and fearful way Akira looked up at him upon hearing his words. "Can I borrow yours?"

"Sure," Fubuki replied, taking out her communicator and passing it to him.

He nodded and ran off again, silently wondering why she had not asked what she ought to do if she needed to use her communication mirror, but apparently the thought had not occurred to her. Kurama had deliberately kept Fubuki and Akira together not only because he thought it best after Akira's earlier performance but also because it meant he could take Fubuki's communication mirror without having to ask for his own one back from Akira and without leaving anyone without a communicator.

Once he was sure that he was far out of earshot of anyone else, Kurama flipped open the communication mirror and called up the one person he needed an answer from.

* * *

"What's that bloody noise?" Chu moaned, sitting up and scratching at the back of his head.

"I got it, I got it," Yusuke groaned, slapping his hands at his jean pockets. "It's somewhere…"

As Yusuke began searching his coat pockets, Hiei reluctantly fished the Spirit World communication mirror from his own pocket and flipped it open, ceasing the ringing sound that had woken up just about every other member of the group. When he saw Kurama's face looking out of the device, Hiei stood up and started to leave where the others were gathered around their campfire.

Behind him Chu and Yusuke continued a conversation about communicators and Jin and Suzuka sat up alongside Touya, who had already been awake and watching guard. Hiei kept moving until he could no longer even hear the murmur of their voices before addressing Kurama, who appeared to have understood what he was doing, as he had remained silent throughout.

"What is it?" Hiei asked him.

"A slightly odd question I think I probably already know the answer to," Kurama replied.

"If you already know the answer, why are you wasting my time asking me about it?" Hiei asked.

"Perhaps just to reassure myself that it is just a nonsense question," Kurama replied. "Are you aware of any type of demon affected by lunar cycles?"

"You mean other than wolf demons?" Hiei asked.

"Yes. And no. I'm not asking about lunar cycles in Demon World, I'm asking about any demons affected by lunar cycles of the living world. More specifically, demons affected by a new moon in the living world."

"That's the opposite of anything that makes any sense. Only wolf demons are affected by full moons in Demon World."

"That's what I thought."

Hiei waited for Kurama to end the call and when he did not after several awkwardly silent seconds, Hiei was forced to talk again.

"Is that it?" he asked.

"Perhaps not," Kurama replied.

Hiei growled quietly.

"I wonder if you have ever noticed yourself affected by the new moon during your time in the living world?"

Hiei froze.

"I wondered if emikos were affected by the new moon in the living world."

Hiei's face dropped.

"I'm not accusing you of anything, Hiei," Kurama added.

"It sounds like you are," Hiei flatly replied. "And for the record no, I am not so weak and pathetic that something as trivial as the phase of the human moon would affect me in any way."

"Okay. I was asking because I've been informed that the new moon in the living world apparently has an adverse effect on Akira's behaviour."

Hiei glanced back over his shoulder to check that he was still alone, despite knowing that nobody had followed him.

"I don't want to discuss that child," he said to Kurama as he turned back to face the communication mirror.

"If there's anything you can tell me, it would be very helpful," Kurama replied.

"There's nothing I can tell you about that monstrosity," Hiei said in a low voice.

"I have a genuine concern about this matter."

"Then why don't you take it up with the boy's mother?"

"It seems the boy's parents are very tight-lipped when it comes to discussing his past or his bad habits."

"This is your problem, not mine. You chose to stay in the living world rather than come here where you are needed. We have bigger problems here than a child's tantrums – if that's the worse of your problems then consider yourself lucky."

Kurama's face changed ever so slightly and Hiei had to resist the urge to just snap shut the communicator and end the conversation.

"You seem tense," the fox demon commented. "Is something wrong?"

"We've lost two of our team," Hiei frankly replied.

"I see," Kurama calmly replied. "Where did you lose them?"

Hiei wanted to snap back with a sarcastic response, but he reasoned that his choice of words had been ambiguous, and, since things were apparently so easy in the living world, it was little wonder that Kurama had not assumed the worst upon hearing his words.

"They're dead," Hiei corrected himself. "Two members of our team have died."

Kurama's eyes widened.

"Like I said, it's very nice to hear that the worst of your problems is controlling one of the kids you're babysitting, but we have real problems here in Demon World," Hiei added.

"What happened?" Kurama asked quietly. "Who have you lost and how did it happen?"

"We've lost Rinku and Shishiwakamaru," Hiei replied.

"How? What happened?"

"They were set up by Risho, who was under the influence of the Dark Force. We don't know if he was controlled or consumed, but we did dispose of him."

"Where are you now?"

Hiei felt a little relief in that moment – though he would never dare show or admit to it – as he assumed that Kurama was asking his location so that he could join up with them and aid the efforts in Demon World.

"High Road," he said. "Not far from the second portal on the west end to the living world."

"Ah, interesting," Kurama replied. "I've been told there was an incident there, a little over four years ago. Some sort of powerful energy surge erupted around that point, destroying the road and allegedly awakening the Dark Force early. Have you found any evidence of such a disruption?"

Hiei was glad that Kurama did not already know the details of what had happened to cause the destruction of High Road, but he was simultaneously irked that the fox demon was not offering to come to Demon World and join the fight.

"Yes, but there are no clues here as to what the Dark Force is looking for," he eventually answered, hoping to draw attention away from the incident in question.

"Hiei, when I heard about the incident on High Road, it occurred to me that Kuwabara, Yusuke and I were all in the living world on the day it happened," Kurama said instead. "But you must have been in Demon World. Did you see or hear anything about it at the time?"

Hiei's right hand twitched and he was silently glad that he was holding the communicator in his left hand, making the response all but invisible to Kurama's line of sight.

"I've patrolled High Road many times since the incident," he carefully replied. "And during the last four years, patrolling the damaged road, I haven't encountered any traces of the monster."

"The monster?" Kurama echoed.

"Yes," Hiei said. "The monster of High Road."

"I'm unaware of that part of the story. What do you mean "monster"?"

Hiei tensed, realising then that Kurama had not in fact mentioned the much talked about monster of High Road.

"The rumours in Demon World are that there was a monster here that day," he lied flawlessly.

The full story that had travelled around Demon World as a rumour was that there had been an incredibly powerful monster on High Road that day, and that the monster had exerted a huge amount of energy that had killed anyone within a two-mile radius of the giant hole it had created in the road. The rumour said that the monster was the only one not to perish that day, but nobody had seen or heard of the monster either before or since.

Hiei was hoping the entire Dark Age would pass with that highly inaccurate story remaining in tact and appearing to be the truth.

Though logically, he told himself, there had been at least two surviving witnesses to those events who could probably tell the true story of what had happened, and one of those two was the Dark Force, buried deep beneath the road and ultimately roused from its slumber by the highly-charged emotion and action above its resting place that day.

"You should definitely continue to investigate that," Kurama said. "It sounds as though whatever – or rather, whoever – that "monster" was could be key in this battle. That "monster" will either be the one the Dark Force seeks to ultimately consume or else that "monster" is the one the Dark Force wishes to battle against."

And that, Hiei thought darkly, was another reality he did not wish to give too much thought to either: the Dark Force was either ultimately coming after him with the intention of consuming his soul or else it was coming after him to battle with him. It was not that Hiei did not relish the though of having a mighty showdown against a truly powerful opponent, it was more his fear of what face the Dark Force might be wearing if it chose to fight against him.

Looking back over his shoulder at the others, Hiei was already almost certain that the Dark Force was coming to consume him – because it had seen his massive hidden potential and wished to draw it out of him – and it was going to make him fight Yusuke in the end.

It was so painfully obvious.

And that was why Hiei was so infuriated that Yusuke was not taking the situation more seriously and making a more genuine effort to stop the enemy before it became strong enough to take Hiei over against his will.

"Is that all you called about?" Hiei asked, turning back to Kurama. "You won't come here and join our fight, even though you know we've lost two fighters already?"

"There is much I need to take care of here," Kurama replied.

"Fine."

Hiei snapped the communicator shut. Kurama, with his level-headedness, neutrality and link to both Hiei and Yusuke, was the most obvious mediator to bring Yusuke to his senses and get him fighting harder, and he was the person most likely to act correctly if the Dark Force did manage to get to Hiei. Hiei knew that, of everyone, Kurama was the only one he could rely on to kill him as swiftly as he had done with Rinku should he end up at the mercy of the enemy.

The last thing Hiei wanted was to become a puppet of the Dark Force. He already knew what would happen if he did: and it mostly involved Yukina, the ferry girl and that miserable brat with purple hair.

* * *

"And that was it. Just two dragon fish."

Kuwabara scrunched up his face.

"What the heck is a "dragon fish"?" he asked.

"It's a creature that has the head of a dragon and the body of a fish," Kurama explained. "It can move between dimensions. It's a low-level pest, but a tricky one."

"Right…"

Kuwabara had listened to everything Kurama had told him, but Kurama could not help but notice the way his attention kept drifting to the window. Kurama stepped forwards and leaned over to look out the window himself, seeing then that Yukina was outside feeding Puu. Kurama was a little surprised to see Yusuke's spirit beast back in the living world, as Yusuke had taken the creature back to Demon World with him; but just as he was about to comment on the matter, Kuwabara changed the subject.

"We gotta make sure this "safe house" stays safe," he said. "Have you decided when you'll take your mom up here?"

"Soon, I think," Kurama replied. "Especially after seeing dragon fish in this realm. Though…"

Kurama's mind drifted back to Akira and he narrowed his eyes.

"I have some reservations about how safe this safe house is at present," he said.

"Huh?" Kuwabara echoed.

"Kuwabara, I know who Akira is," Kurama said, looking directly into his friend's eyes and keeping his tone and expression firm. "I know everything. And now I need to know that I can trust Akira. Do you understand what I'm asking?"

Kuwabara nodded slowly.

"Yeah, sure," he said quietly. "But, um… How did you find out that Akira was…? I mean, I guess I thought everybody knew after Botan went around telling everyone that one time, but… Koenma said not to talk to you about it."

"Yes," Kurama said, flawlessly hiding how angry he was to hear that Koenma had sworn Kuwabara to silence on the matter of the potential enemy within their own ranks. "I am concerned that Akira cannot be trusted."

Kuwabara's eyes doubled in size.

"I understand it's difficult for you to be critical, given your relationship to Akira, but I need you to try to understand this from my point of view," Kurama continued. "After our simulation test last night, Akira said some quite damning things."

"Well, the thing about Akira, is that sometimes…" Kuwabara began. "Well… Just…"

"Please don't insult my intelligence by making excuses for that child," Kurama warned him.

"You know what Kurama, you weren't here when everything happened," Kuwabara replied, sounding suddenly decidedly more focused. "You don't know what it was like. Maybe you should just forget about whatever Koenma or Hiei said – because neither of them understand Akira – and get to know the kid for yourself. Then make up your own mind. Aren't you always saying everyone deserves a second chance? Akira's just a scared kid who's been framed by Spirit World for all the wrong reasons. If you knew anything about Akira, you'd understand why I'm so mad right now."

Kuwabara did not sound or look especially angry, but there was more than a hint of wounded fatherly pride in his voice, and so Kurama conceded for the time being.

"That's good advice Kuwabara," he said. "I shall do exactly that."

They nodded at each other and Kurama left the room, briskly marching right past the hall of photographs and continuing through the temple and out into the gardens, eventually locating Akira sitting cross-legged by a patch of flowers watching a trio of butterflies with a very serene look on his face.

"Akira, we need to talk," Kurama announced, sitting down opposite the emiko.

Akira looked a little startled, but his eyes were not on Kurama, rather he was watching the butterflies depart after Kurama had disturbed them.

"Earlier today you said you have no qualms or restrictions with regards to using your demon energy against demons," Kurama continued. "Is that why you used it against me when we sparred before?"

Akira slowly met Kurama's eyes. Kurama vaguely noticed then that the boy looked a little less pitiful than usual, as Yukina had apparently been brushing his hair again, lifting it into a messy, upturned style that looked decidedly less unapproachable than his usual, straggly hairdo.

"My mom said you were a demon, so it would be okay," he said. "She also said I'm free to use my demon energy against Yusuke and Hiei in training sessions."

"Good," Kurama said. "In that case, you and I are going to spar every day from now on. For one hour a day. I want you to attack me with as much ruthlessness and vigour as you did when you were fighting for my communication mirror. Can you do that?"

"I'd rather not," Akira replied. "I made your nose bleed that day."

"I'm sure I drew blood from you too that day," Kurama pointed out.

"I don't like it when I get blood on my hands," Akira said quietly, holding out his upturned hands.

Kurama looked down at the boys small hands, tilting his head slightly as he noticed something then.

"Is that why you always cover your hands?" he asked, frowning at the bandaging over the entirety of the boy's hands and fingers.

"A little bit."

"Well, as long as your hands are covered, you won't get blood on them, will you?"

Akira slowly lowered his hands, looking up at Kurama with a vague look of desperation, as though his mind was fighting to think of a reason to excuse himself from Kurama's plan.

"We start tomorrow, after your shift on the dawn guard," Kurama told him. "If you're concerned about anyone else seeing you or getting into trouble with anyone else, we will take our sparring sessions elsewhere."

Akira looked a little upset then, but said nothing, which Kurama took to mean that he was reluctantly accepting his fate.

"Until tomorrow morning then," Kurama said, before rising to his feet and taking his leave.

* * *

**Next chapter:** Kurama attempts to understand Akira a little better, learning a few inconsistencies in what he thought to be the facts in the process, and as they head back to Yomi's HQ, Hiei reflects further on that fateful day on High Road and about what he lost that day. **Chapter 12 – Last Line of Defence**

**A/N:** Thanks to everyone who (at this point) is still reading (this is such a long fic), I hope some of you can stick it out to the end. I sometimes think the YYH fandom is dwindling, so it's always nice to know people are still into YYH fanfics.


	12. Last Line of Defence

**Chapter 12 – Last Line of Defence**

After spending the best part of a day wandering around the site of the destruction on High Road, Yusuke was confident that there was nothing more to be found or learned from remaining there. He had not told anyone else yet about his earlier discovery by the side of the road, mostly because he intended to wait for the right moment to bring that point up and partly because he wanted to try to understand a little more about what had created the unusual hole in the road before he started arriving at any premature conclusions. And so, with those thoughts in mind, he told the others it was time to move on.

"I say we head back to Yomi's place," he said. "I think we should try to find out what was going on there before we start looking for Enki again."

"Agreed," Touya replied. "But we should go there not only to investigate, but also to recruit."

"Recruit?" Suzuka echoed.

"Yes," Touya replied. "I agree with your earlier remark about our need to regroup. I think we've all learned the hard way in the last few days that our biggest weakness is when our numbers diminish, and, as strong and as prepared as we are, we will be much stronger in a greater number. I suggest we recruit from Yomi's army and try to – at the very least – double our number."

"None of Yomi's men are even half as strong as any of us," Hiei grumbled.

"Strength is not the issue here, surely a fighter as versed in psychological warfare as you realises that, Hiei," Touya replied.

Yusuke could not help but notice the mildly provocative edge Touya's voice took on as he addressed Hiei, but, judging by his lack of reaction, Hiei either had not noticed or did not care.

"It will be far more difficult for the Dark Force to single us out if we remain as a unit," Touya continued. "And the more of us in that unit, the more critical opinions we have access to should another shadow of doubt be cast over any one of our team."

"More bodies definitely sounds like a good idea to me," Suzuka said.

"I still think you're scared," Chu muttered.

"If we needed to split up for any reason, it would be easier again if we had more members in our team," Touya added. "If we could even just double our number to twelve, splitting into four groups as we did recently would leave us with three members in each group instead of just two, which again makes it harder for the Dark Force to sneak an attack on any one of us like it did with Shishiwakamaru."

"Right, I get that," Yusuke said. "But if we're talking about splitting up a lot more in the future, maybe we should get enough guys that we can split up into groups of four, just to be sure. And while we're at it, we need to get Kurama out here."

"You're wasting your time."

Yusuke turned to Hiei, who was looking off to one side, but looking quite grumpy – or rather, grumpier than usual.

"I already told Kurama he should come here," Hiei grumbled. "He seems to think he's needed in the living world."

"Then he should stay there."

Hiei sharply met Yusuke's eyes, his nostrils flaring and his eyes flashing. Yusuke had never felt intimidated by Hiei's death glares – not even at a time when he had been weaker than Hiei – and he was certainly not concerned about receiving another one at such a moment. The Dark Force was Demon World's problem, and stopping it there and keeping the living world safe was, as far as Yusuke was concerned, the primary objective. He had no intention of forcing Keiko to stay boxed up at Genkai's temple while possessed demons ran rampant around Sarayashiki city, and he would not allow demons to sneak into the living world and whisk away his mother during one of her less sensible moments – which she seemed to be having an increasing number of over the years – and the easiest way to achieve both of those things was to make sure the living world was well-guarded while he was tied up fighting off the sneaky enemy in Demon World.

"Do you really think Kuwabara, with his new sensible haircut and those three kids, is fit to keep everyone in the living world safe without Kurama's help?" Yusuke added.

Hiei grunted out a reluctant noise of agreement and Yusuke nodded.

"So we're all in agreement then?" Touya asked, looking around the others.

Hiei muttered something about wondering when Touya had been made leader of the team, but the others all gave signs of agreement.

"Then let's go find out who decided to turn Yomi's place into Swiss cheese," Yusuke said.

The others all started to take their leave, but Hiei lingered. Yusuke turned to him expectantly and, after a brief pause, he finally started to move, eventually falling into step alongside Yusuke at the back of the group.

"I really don't think babysitting is the best use of Kurama's time," he complained as they went.

"I'm sure Kurama has a really good reason for staying behind," Yusuke reminded him. "I mean come on! This is Kurama we're talking about here! He's always the sensible one who does the right and best thing. Obviously he's really needed back there and I'm sure he's got it pretty bad there too."

"Hn."

Yusuke sighed. Hiei had been bleaker than usual ever since Risho had joined up with them, and he only seemed to be getting worse; though Yusuke did find himself wondering then exactly what Kurama was doing back in the living world that was so important that he could not join them in Demon World, even for a day.

* * *

Kurama had become so accustomed to Akira sneaking up on him, he was surprised to arrive out on the lawn and not find himself shortly accompanied by the diminutive emiko. At first he assumed Akira was just approaching or maybe waiting for the right moment to launch a sneak attack: but, when neither happened after several minutes of waiting, Kurama began to grow impatient. He was unsure if he ought to be angry that Akira had vanished or if he should be nervous that perhaps something had drawn their dawn guard away from his post. As he began to grow increasingly concerned that the latter was the case – memories of the dragon fish in Aokigahara still too fresh in his mind – Kurama began briskly walking around the exterior of the temple in the hope of finding some trace of where Akira was or which direction he might have left in. And, just as he was about to call Kaisei out to start his shift on guard early, Kurama stumbled to a halt, noticing two figures sitting on the back porch. His first reaction was to be irate that one of them was Akira, both oblivious to Kurama's presence and having apparently abandoned his duties on guard, but Kurama's ire faded a little when he saw that the other was Fubuki, wrapped in a short silk dressing gown and with her long hair tied up in a messy bun at the back of her head.

Kurama ran his fingers through his hair and smoothed out his shirt before starting towards them.

"Oh hey, foxy!" Fubuki called out to him as she noticed his approach.

Akira did not even turn his head, keeping his eyes on Fubuki despite her waving enthusiastically at Kurama.

"Isn't it a little early for you to be on the prowl?" she asked as he drew closer.

"I could say the same to you," Kurama replied, stopping by the porch steps she was sitting on. "I thought you'd still be in bed at this hour after working the late shift on guard."

She smiled in a way that warned him she was about to say something cheeky, and even though he was given that brief warning, Kurama was still surprised by her next words.

"You were thinking about me in bed?" she asked.

Kurama glanced at Akira, who was looking up at him blankly, apparently oblivious as to the implications of Fubuki's comment, which was at least a little consolation, as it made his embarrassment slightly easier to deal with.

"Actually I was looking for Akira," he recovered.

"I hope not," Fubuki said.

Kurama paused, momentarily wondering what she meant. For the briefest moment, he found himself wondering just how dark her sense of humour could get if she was implying that he was more interested in a little boy than her.

"I need to borrow the little munchkin for half an hour," she added, placing a hand on top of Akira's head.

Akira smiled slightly at the contact, but kept his eyes on Kurama.

"Can I ask why?" Kurama asked Fubuki. "I need the time to work on Akira's training."

"That's a good reason to need him," Fubuki said. "But I have a much more important reason to need him first."

Kurama slowly moved his attention back to Akira.

"Really?" he asked.

Akira said nothing, but Kurama suspected that he was simply pleased to have an excuse not to continue with their plan of sparring together every day after his guard shift ended.

"Yes," Fubuki said. "I'm going into the city for lunch, I need the kid to help me get ready."

Kurama's eyebrows shot up and his attention snapped back to Fubuki.

"Have you received intelligence of a disturbance in the city?" he asked her.

"No, I've received a strong desire to eat fast food and see men other than Kuwabara and my brother," she replied. "If you want to come with me of course, that would be alright, I guess."

"So basically, you're slacking off?" Kurama asked.

"I like to think of it as recharging my batteries," Fubuki replied.

"And where does Akira factor into your plan?"

"He's really good at painting my fingernails and braiding my hair."

Kurama's face dropped.

"I know what you're thinking," Fubuki hurriedly added. "But it's true. It's probably because he's got such small fingers and he's really patient. I don't know where he learned it though… Hey Tet, who taught you how to put on nail varnish and braid hair?"

"My mom," Akira answered her.

Fubuki nodded.

"I guess your mom must always have the neatest nails and prettiest hairstyle," she said to him.

Akira smiled and nodded.

"I'm afraid I can't allow this," Kurama cut in.

Fubuki and Akira both turned to him, their faces both suddenly darker, as though he was the one suggesting something offensively trivial.

"Fubuki, you will have to braid your own hair and paint your own fingernails," he said sternly. "I have a schedule to follow and you have to respect it."

"Wow, you're a lot harsher than Kuwabara," she said.

"Yes, I know," Kurama replied. "That's what the primary problem here has been. And in future, if you want to leave the group, you need to first justify to me why you are doing so."

"Ooh, am I in trouble?"

Fubuki turned to Akira and pouted.

"Hey Tet, I think I'm in trouble with Mister Kurama," she said.

"Maybe we should do what he says," Akira said quietly.

"What happens when we break the rules, Mister Kurama?" Fubuki asked, turning to Kurama.

"This isn't a joking matter," Kurama replied.

"Mister Kurama sounds mean when he gets mads," Fubuki said to Akira.

"I'm not "getting mad"," Kurama said. "I'm not angry, I'm disappointed."

Akira started to stand, turning to face Kurama as though he intended to leave with him: but Fubuki grabbed an arm around his waist and pulled him back down to sit on her knee, wrapping her other arm around him and holding him in place.

"Aren't you going to protect me from mean Mister Kurama, Akira?" she said. "I thought we were friends…"

"We're friends?" Akira asked, looking genuinely surprised by the concept.

Kurama took a moment to notice just how binding the hold Fubuki had on Akira was. Despite his apparent momentary confusion upon hearing her call him her friend, he was still strangely accepting of her holding him down, which was surprising after how violently he had reached to Kaisei making too much physical contact with him the day before.

Kurama supposed that perhaps what Fubuki had said held some merit after all: apparently she was the object of Akira's affections.

"I think I should go with Kurama," Akira concluded.

"You can't go yet, Kaisei isn't here yet to take over from you," Fubuki said.

"He's due to start in a matter of minutes," Kurama replied. "I'm sure you can hold the fort until he arrives."

Fubuki's face dropped.

"Akira?"

Akira stepped up out of Fubuki's hold – which she had lessened in her shock at Kurama's words – and looked up at Kurama expectantly.

"Follow me," Kurama said.

Akira nodded and Kurama set off, trying to tell himself that Akira was Kuwabara and Yukina's son, and that, as long as Kuwabara believed in him, he deserved a second chance. Kurama kept walking until he was confident that he was out of sight of the temple before stopping and turning to Akira.

"Before we begin, I'm going to ask you something you might not like," Kurama began.

"Okay…" Akira said, hanging his head and frowning apprehensively.

"Will you let me take that collar off?"

Akira looked surprised by his question, but quickly recovered by shaking his head.

"You can't take it off," he said. "It can only be taken off by the one who put it on."

"Generally that's true," Kurama replied. "But there is an over-ride."

"No there isn't," Akira said. "It only comes off if the one who put it on removes it or if that person dies."

"There is an over-ride," Kurama insisted.

"No there isn't. And even if there was, I don't want you to touch it."

"Why not? Are you afraid?"

"Yes."

"What are you afraid of?"

"Someone in Spirit World finding out I took it off. It's a condition of the contract that I keep it on. It was the only way they would let me come back here."

"Come back? You know… I heard that collar was put onto you because of the early arrival of the Dark Age."

"I don't know about that."

Kurama frowned.

"Why do you think you are being made to wear it?" he asked.

Akira pursed his lips and lowered his head again.

"They said it was too dangerous to let me out without it," he said. "After they saw what I could do, they didn't trust me. And… I didn't want to wear it, because it hurts, but Koenma told me if I wore it, I'd be allowed to live in this world."

"I see," Kurama said. "When did you first discover that you could summon the Darkness Flame?"

Akira shrugged.

"You don't remember?" Kurama asked.

"I guess maybe I was about four or five when I first did it," he admitted. "When my mom found out I had strong spirit energy, she wanted me to train. And then after I trained for about a year, I started learning I had demon energy too. I was scared at first, because it was really strong and I couldn't control it. But my teacher showed me how to master it."

Akira looked up, looking Kurama directly in the eye with a suddenly determined look in his eyes.

"I knew exactly what I was doing when I attacked that dragon fish in the forest," he said sternly. "I would never have taken a gamble and risked hurting Kaisei with that attack. I have perfect control over it now."

Kurama nodded.

"It's still a very powerful attack," he said.

"But I am in control of it," Akira insisted.

"I'm not denying that," Kurama assured him. "I'm more surprised that you would want to use such an attack. Launching such energy must surely cause you great pain."

Kurama pointed to his neck and Akira touched a hand to the collar he was wearing.

"It's okay," he said. "I'm a lot better at coping with pain now."

"Was that a part of your training? Dealing with pain?" Kurama asked.

"I guess you could say that," Akira quietly replied.

"I fear your training has focused too heavily on defensive strategy rather than offensive manoeuvres."

"I don't know about that."

"Well then trust me, it has. Clearly you've been coddled."

Akira's face twisted in what was the first expression of outrage Kurama had clearly seen him make.

"Excuse me?" he said. "Are you calling me a spoiled brat?"

"You understand what the word "coddled" means?" Kurama asked.

"I'm not an idiot."

Kurama paused, momentarily struck by just how like Hiei Akira looked in that moment. It was odd, he thought to himself, that he saw and felt more of Hiei in the boy than Yukina. Perhaps it was an emiko thing, or perhaps Akira was merely demonstrating inherited traits that had skipped over Yukina herself. Or maybe Yukina was just better at containing her anger and less proud than Hiei or Akira thanks to her upbringing in the ice village.

"You're also very precocious," Kurama commented.

"I consider that a compliment," Akira flatly replied. "Though I think you meant it as an insult. You're accusing me of being pompous just because I'm mature and articulate for my age."

Kurama paused again. He had been accusing Akira of being pompous and he was demonstrating that he was in fact very articulate for his age; but such skills in a child so young were also often a sign of something else.

"Do you have many friends your own age, Akira?" Kurama asked.

Akira lost a little of his fire as he shook his head.

"Do you have any friends your own age?"

Akira shook his head again and again his demeanour calmed.

"Have you ever had any friends your own age?"

As Akira shook his head for a third time, he finally regained his more typical, borderline miserable, expression.

"Didn't you ever go to school?" Kurama asked.

Akira shook his head. Kurama was surprised by his reply, as Kuwabara had become quite serious about his own studies in his late teens, and Kurama had always believed that any child of Kuwabara's would be actively encouraged to be that studious from the outset. However, sending an emotional and unpredictable half-demon child to a school of human children was a major gamble, and one Spirit World would surely have been opposed to.

"I assume then that you were home schooled to be as coherent as you are," Kurama concluded aloud.

"Wh-what does home schooled mean?" Akira asked.

"It means you were educated at home," Kurama replied. "By one of your parents, perhaps."

Akira nodded.

"My mom taught me to read and write," he said. "And she taught me about history and things like that."

"So you've mostly only been around people much older than you are?" Kurama asked. "You have no experience of interacting with children your own age?"

"I'm not a child," Akira harshly replied. "And isn't it really hypocritical of you to stand there and lecture me on how to act in an age-appropriate manner?"

Kurama was struggling to contain his mounting surprise at both Akira's confidence and his vocabulary, but he refused to let his feelings show.

"What are you implying?" he asked calmly.

"Well, you're standing there telling me that I don't know how to act my age," Akira replied. "But how old are you? Aren't you like 200 years old?"

Kurama allowed himself a small smile.

"It's closer to two thousand years old, actually," he said.

Akira balked and did not even bother trying to hide his shock when his initial moment of horror had passed.

"Are you surprised?" Kurama asked him.

"Yeah," Akira replied. "But now I know you really are a hypocrite. You're accusing me of not spending time with people my own age, so what's your excuse for flirting with Fubuki if you're 2000 years old and she's only 24?"

"Does that make you angry?" Kurama asked.

He had not been flirting with Fubuki – though he could see that she had been flirting with him – but he supposed that, for an emotionally immature boy with a crush, it was probably more logical for Akira to be angry with Kurama than Fubuki.

"I don't like it when people expect everyone else to behave one way and they behave the total opposite way themselves," Akira quietly replied. "Like they can't do wrong. Like they can't ever be questioned for their actions."

"Good," Kurama said.

"How is that good?" Akira asked.

"Because now that you have a reason to think I deserve to be the object of your wrath, you won't hold anything back."

Akira looked a little concerned by Kurama's reply, but when Kurama leapt at him he did not hesitate to leap out of Kurama's range. He attempted to elbow Kurama in the ribs but Kurama anticipated his move and blocked his attack, pushing him back. As Akira was on the offensive for once, Kurama decided to simply deflect his attacks without retaliating, if only to prove to himself that the boy did actually know how to attack in a fight. After a few minutes of continuing in that manner, Kurama noticed a few things: Akira was not using his demon energy and barely using any spirit energy in his attacks – so in a sense he was still holding back – and his primary advantage was his speed, which was impressive and would be enough of an advantage against any opponent who did not concentrate carefully on their defence. Akira eventually stopped his barrage of attacks, ending with a few quite clever feints before flipping over in the air and landing some distance in front of Kurama.

At the moment that Akira landed – a good twenty feet away and facing him – Kurama felt something sharp at his lower back near his left hip. He looked down to see a sharp stone hit the ground and at first he assumed it had been launched into the air during the scuffle: but as he looked over at Akira, something about the way the boy was looking back at him suggested otherwise.

"Why did you throw a stone at me?" he asked.

"You didn't see it coming," Akira replied.

Kurama crouched down and retrieved the stone, vaguely suspicious of it then. He turned it over to inspect it, waiting until he had satisfied himself that it was just an ordinary granite chip before looking over at Akira again.

"No, I didn't see you throw it," he admitted. "So why did you throw it?"

"It's what we do in practise," Akira replied. "When I trained with my teacher, we used stones instead of the actual weapon."

"Weapon?"

The stone fell from Kurama's hand as Akira calmly slid a serrated throwing knife out of one of his sleeves. When he repeated the action, exposing another, identical, weapon from his other sleeve, Kurama began to grow concerned. Akira continued moving at an unhurried pace, expressionlessly producing a trio of throwing stars from inside one boot and a set of smoke bombs from his other boot.

"I had no idea you were versed in any sort of weaponry," Kurama commented. "You never mentioned it before."

"I didn't think I needed to mention it before," Akira replied. "These are all standard items I learned to use as part of my training in the art of ninjutsu. Had this been a real fight, based on the opening you gave me, I probably would have thrown one of the knives at you."

Kurama's eyebrows slowly lifted.

"It wasn't a perfect shot," Akira added as he began stowing his weapons back in their various concealed locations about his person. "I was aiming for your kidneys."

"That's quite brutal," Kurama commented.

"I don't understand you," Akira said, sounding a little irritated. "You keep telling me you want me to fight harder but then every time I do you act surprised."

"I am surprised," Kurama replied. "But not because you're doing what I asked, I'm surprised that you're able to do what I asked."

"I'm not incapable of fighting," Akira said.

"Then why do you shirk it?"

"Because I don't like it."

"I don't believe that. I think there's another reason."

"You don't know me."

"Then explain it to me."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"I'm not allowed to talk to you about it."

Kurama suddenly found himself more curious than concerned. It did not appear that Akira's last reply had been a lie, but that then left him wondering who had sworn the boy to secrecy and why.

"Is that another condition of your agreement with Koenma?" he asked.

"Not exactly," Akira replied. "He just told me I shouldn't tell you certain things because it's too dangerous for everyone to know everything in case the Dark Force finds out and uses it all against us."

"If that's the case, should you even have told me what you just have?" Kurama asked.

Akira shrugged.

"Probably not, but I don't really care what Koenma says," he said. "He always lies to me anyway."

"I find that Koenma usually conceals matters he believes are best kept confidential," Kurama replied.

"So in other words, you agree that he's a liar?" Akira responded.

"He always conceals certain information with the best of intentions," Kurama said. "Though sadly good intentions don't always reap positive results."

"He's a liar."

"Sometimes he is, yes."

"I think you're only agreeing with me to appear to be my friend and make me talk."

"Perhaps I am. But I suspect you're staying quiet not because you're concerned about breaking any promises you may have made to Koenma, but rather you don't trust me."

"I don't really know you."

"Do you confide in anyone?"

"My mother."

"Anyone else?"

"Sometimes Aunty Shizuru."

"Nobody else?"

"No."

"Sometimes it's easier to confide in an objective person outside of your inner circle of family and friends."

"You mean like you?"

"I was wondering if you'd ever confided anything in Fubuki. You seem close to her."

"Now you're accusing me of putting Fubuki in a dangerous position by telling her information the enemy could use against her. And that's not fair, because I haven't done that."

"I wasn't accusing you of that. But is that why you haven't confided in Fubuki?"

"We're not as close as you think. She doesn't take anything seriously. She couldn't handle the truth."

"So then in your opinion, the truth is a dangerous thing. Why don't you enlighten me?"

"Why don't you ask Koenma?"

Kurama thought about continuing to coerce Akira into talking, but he sensed that, since the boy so clearly had a strong aversion to any form of deceit, a direct approach would perhaps work better.

"I already have," he confessed. "He told me very little about you."

Akira gave Kurama a strange look.

"When did you talk to Koenma?" he asked. "I know it can't have been recently, because I still have your communicator."

"I went to Spirit World," Kurama replied.

"Why?" Akira asked. "To ask him about me?"

"I don't believe that you are only wearing that collar because of a knee jerk reaction from Spirit World following the early dawning of the Dark Age. I believe you are an enemy of Spirit World and I wanted to find out why."

"So you don't trust me."

"I didn't say that. I myself was an enemy of Spirit World for most of my life, and even now I am sure that most there wouldn't trust me."

"Probably because you're a demon."

"That's a large part of it, yes."

"And you stole from them, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did."

When Akira said no more, Kurama tried to continue the avenue he had just opened up in their previous exchange.

"Have you ever stolen from Spirit World?" he asked.

"No," Akira replied.

He had answered without hesitating and there was no hint of doubt in either his tone or expression and so Kurama had to believe that he was telling the truth.

"Are we done here or do we have to keep going for the full hour?"

Kurama assumed that, by the mildly sarcastic tone of his question, Akira was unwilling to talk any more for the time being.

"We'll continue," Kurama said.

Akira nodded and took the initiative in charging at Kurama, who meanwhile felt no more informed about the boy's problems with Spirit World nor any more assured that he was trustworthy.

* * *

Hiei had the distinct feeling that Yusuke was up to something. He tried not to succumb to paranoia, but he could not escape the paranoid feeling that Yusuke had been watching him for the corner of his eye since their arrival, stay and subsequent departure from High Road. Maybe Yusuke had figured it out, Hiei thought darkly. Maybe he had seen through it all. Maybe he had recognised the faint, lingering marks on the road for what they were and maybe he knew that Hiei was responsible for destroying the road. Or maybe Hiei's own suspicious nature was getting the better of him.

But, Hiei told himself, suspicion was not an emotion, so he was allowed to indulge in it a little, as being suspicious hardly made him a target for the Dark Force.

Thinking a little more about the matter as the group continued their journey back to Yomi's home, Hiei was surprised that none of the others had noticed what he was hiding. He had thought that somewhere along the way someone would have noticed and said something – even Kuwabara and Kurama had not appeared to notice anything was amiss when he had encountered them in the living world. Thinking even more about just that, Hiei realised then that his recent encounter with Kuwabara was the first time he had seen the human since that fateful day on High Road and he had only encountered Kurama twice since that day – in the living world at the recent gathering and prior to that at the last Demon World Tournament that successfully took place, three years ago. But knowing how sensitive Kuwabara was and how observant Kurama was, Hiei was still surprised that neither had noticed anything different about him. Or perhaps they had, but they had not been brave enough to voice their observations in his presence.

The last Demon World Tournament – which had taken place three years earlier and a little over one year after the incident on High Road – had been far more trying for Hiei than his present situation. Trying to legitimately compete in the competition without revealing that he was missing something about himself had proved to be quite challenging, and it had purely been by luck that he had faced a devious opponent in the first round who had used smoke screens to cheat his way to a victory, that Hiei had managed to keep his secret hidden from the watchful eyes of Yusuke and Kurama, who had been in the audience watching his fight with their usual level of scrutiny. At the time, Hiei had no idea that the Dark Age would come early and he was sure that, before the next tournament came around, he would have fixed the problem and he would never need to admit to either his involvement in the High Road incident or the sacrifice he had been forced to make that day.

But three years had passed, the next tournament had come around (and failed to commence) and Hiei was still no closer to fixing the damage he had suffered – something that, although he had managed to keep it hidden from those around him, the Dark Force had noticed almost immediately.

Hiei's memories of the destruction of High Road – and, for that matter, his memories of anything immediately following the event – were sketchy at best, but he could clearly remember why he had done what he had and exactly what it was that he had done. He had acted correctly by anyone's judgement – his own or anyone else's in Demon World (and probably even in Spirit World) – in that he had simply tried to get rid of someone causing trouble around the Dark Force's prison site. After seeing Botan there in a scuffle and after she had flown up into the sky away from the battle, she had afforded Hiei a clear shot of the battling demons. If he had gone over to them and separated them with his own hands he could have risked being blamed for any negative consequences of the fight, and so, with Botan safely out of the way, Hiei did not even need to take a single step closer to stop the chaos. He had simply removed the bandaging from his right arm and released the Dragon of the Darkness Flame. It was a flawless plans with no drawbacks: he could, from a distance, quickly and efficiently vanquish whatever petty little pests were parrying in the distance and neither he nor Botan would need to be blamed for being a part of any of it.

But at the moment Hiei's devastating power left his body, the logic and simplicity of his plan evaporated as quickly as his chosen victims ought to have.

Hiei knew that Botan had seen him use the attack often enough to understand its ruthlessly devastating and indiscriminate power and he had assumed that when she saw the black dragon streaming along the road towards the fight below her, she would do something sensible like fly even higher into the sky or else just leave the area altogether. Botan was emotional but she was not an idiot, and so when she did the most idiotic thing imaginable, Hiei had started to believe that she had lost her mind.

Instead of fleeing the scene, Botan began streaming downwards, back towards the battle scene, as though she intended to tackle the Dragon of the Darkness Flame head-on.

And after that, Hiei's memories of what happened next were rather vague.

He remembered the jolt in his arm when the dragon had stopped – in his mind he had wanted to make it stop but known that he could not – but somehow he must have partially succeeded. He remembered the agonising pain up the entire length of his arm as he tried to turn the dragon around. It would not return without doing what it had been called to do – it would not be satisfied until it had taken a soul – and it would take Botan along with the pathetic demons he had been aiming for if he did not recall it somehow. He remembered thinking that the only way to recall it was to offer himself up as a sacrifice, but that would not work as the dragon was already a part of him. He remembered feeling desperate as the pain in his arm started to become overwhelming even by his own high standards of pain tolerance, and, out of desperation, he had done something ridiculous and given every ounce of strength in his body into redirecting the dragon downwards through the road itself.

The next clear memory that Hiei had was of falling out of a healing chamber back at Mukuro's headquarters, naked, wet, disoriented and with his right arm still littered with scars where it had been reconstructed and reattached to his body.

Mukuro had not mentioned the matter and neither had Hiei, and he had been happy to leave it that way.

After a few more days of rest, at the point where the scarring had reduced enough that Hiei could see what he already knew to be true – that the Dragon of the Darkness Flame was no longer in his arm – Hiei finally did confront Mukuro and ask her what had happened and her answer had been simple: by driving the dragon down into the road, Hiei had sent it straight into the Dark Force's prison, where it had become trapped by the talismans and spells that bound the Dark Force there. The only way he would ever see it again would be when the spell weakened or was broken – or in other words, at the dawning of the next Dark Age.

Hiei's first reaction had been anger. He had consoled himself that he had the challenge of learning to compensate for not having his ultimate attack at his disposal any more, but that consolation did not ease his ire for long, and he eventually found himself just bitter and angry that he had lost something he had trained and fought so hard to get because Botan had decided to make a day trip to the Dark Force's prison. He had started wondering why she had even been there, and, as though in answer to his unspoken question, Hiei received a call from another patrol unit telling him they had just collected the ferry girl in question after finding her floating about the by-then closed section of High Road.

Against his own better judgement, Hiei had gone out to meet with her. He did not especially want to see her but he wanted to know why she had been in Demon World.

Unfortunately, he never got his answer, because when he reached Botan and saw how she looked, he forgot all about his own problems.

"Hiei, what do you think?"

Hiei looked up at Yusuke, realising then that the mazoku was watching him expectant of the answer to a question he had barely heard in relation to a topic of conversation he had been blocking out.

"Do we go meet with them or do we sneak past them?" Yusuke asked, pointing at something up ahead.

Hiei followed the direction he was indicating and saw then that a group of Yomi's men were gathered on the edge of his grounds. Something about the way they were holding themselves and the general feeling in the air did not seem right, which was obviously why the others had stopped. There was a chance that the entire group was being controlled by the Dark Force, and if that were the case, the easiest way to deal with them would have been with the Dragon of the Darkness Flame. In fact, Hiei thought bitterly, he could have become the one challenger strong enough to actually destroy the Dark Force once and for all by using the Dragon of the Darkness Flame to take out the monster after it had consumed someone. His once prized ultimate attack could have had an ultimate purpose, but instead he was left scrambling around trying to look as though he was not missing his most powerful weapon.

"Hiei?" Yusuke pressed. "Any ideas about how we deal with this?"

Hiei looked up at Yusuke again. The only idea Hiei had was that, without his dragon, the only way he had for dealing with the situation was to swiftly execute anyone he suspected of being a host body for the Dark Force.

"We can't hesitate," Hiei said.

"That's what I thought you'd say," Yusuke replied. "Then let's do this."

Hiei and Yusuke moved on, flanked by the four remaining members of their group.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** Kurama starts to bond with Akira, the DW team get caught up in a brutal fight against a group of Yomi's men and learn what it really means to fight against a demon controlled by the Dark Force, during which the group confide in Yusuke their suspicions about Enki's fate, Kurama spies on Akira and Kuwabara chatting and sees another side of them both, Botan has a crisis of conscience when her ferry girl friends rally around her in Spirit World and finally Hiei recalls the last part of the "destruction of High Road" incident and finally figures out something about it that had never made sense to him before (it's an eventful chapter). **Chapter 13 – Bedlam**


	13. Bedlam

**Chapter 13 – Bedlam **

Kurama paused, his hand holding the kettle of hot water over his cup just at the point where the water was ready to start pouring out.

"Can I help you?" he asked, turning to Akira.

Akira stared blankly back at him, but made no effort to move despite standing remarkably close to him.

"We're finished for today," Kurama added.

When Akira still did not respond, Kurama continued pouring out the water.

"Is that rose tea?" Akira asked as the water hit the petals and the aroma began to fill the air.

Kurama smiled tightly.

"Yes it is," he said. "I assume now you are going to tell me what disgusting thing you think this tastes like?"

"I like rose tea."

Kurama almost spilled boiling water over the boy at his response. He hurriedly hid his surprise and finished filling his own cup before steadying the kettle in his hand.

"I have more, would you like some?" he asked.

Akira disappeared, the speed of his departure leaving the ends of Kurama's hair fluttering at his shoulder. He paused in position as he tried to figure out what had happened, but Akira reappeared again as quickly as he had vanished, only his hands were suddenly clutching a black bowl with cat ears and yellow cat eyes printed on one side.

"I'll take that as a yes," Kurama said.

"It's my favourite," Akira explained as Kurama dropped a pinch of rose petals into his bowl.

"I didn't think you liked anything," Kurama replied.

Akira stayed quiet and watched with large eyes and a small smile as Kurama added hot water to his bowl and then stirred in a spoonful of honey. As he removed the teaspoon Kurama noticed that Akira's expression had suddenly changed, and, looking at the spoon in his hand, Kurama thought he knew why.

"I thought you might like it this way," Kurama said carefully as he replaced the spoon to the honey pot. "With honey."

"I do," Akira replied, tilting his head. "But how did you know that?"

"A lucky guess."

Akira looked a little concerned, but began drinking his tea and so Kurama assumed that his lie had been convincing.

Kurama only knew one person who took honey in their rose tea – which, in Kurama's own opinion, was quite a sickly combination of flavours – though apparently it was favourable to the emiko palate.

"I had some rose tea," Akira said. "I always get some with my birthday present from my mom, but that was like two months ago, so I finished it already."

"So your birthday is in June?" Kurama asked, more for the sake of making conversation than out of any actual interest in the subject.

"Yeah," Akira replied. "It's the same day as Yusuke's mom's birthday."

Kurama nodded and started to sip from his own mug of tea, only to pause as a series of thoughts occurred to him. He remembered then that Yukina had mentioned the day of the mysterious explosion of energy in Demon World occurring on Akira's birthday.

"Akira, the day you met me, out at the old house you were using for training," Kurama said slowly. "Was that the first time you'd met Yusuke and Hiei too?"

Akira shook his head.

"It wasn't the first time I'd met you, either."

Kurama could not ever recall having met Akira before that day, but it did seem logical that they ought to have met at some point earlier in his life.

"Though it was only the second time I'd met you," Akira added. "And the second time I'd met Hiei. Though I've met Yusuke many times. He never remembers me."

"That's so strange," Kurama said, forcing a smile as though to make light of the subject. "Yusuke and your father are such close friends, it seems odd that he wouldn't remember you or that he wouldn't have mentioned you to me before."

Akira shrugged.

"So when did you and I meet for the first time?" Kurama asked.

"It wasn't that long ago," Akira replied. "Nobody introduced us. It was easy for me to recognise you, I'd seen all the pictures of you in the safe house."

Kurama nodded.

"And when did you first meet Hiei?"

"When I managed to convince my mom to let me go and meet him."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I always wanted to meet him because she always told me he was this really awesome guy."

"Hiei didn't appear to know you when he met you out in the woods at the start of this mission."

"Probably he was just surprised to see me there."

"Why would that be?"

"The last time he saw me – which was also the first time he saw me – he tried to kill me. I guess he thought I was dead."

Kurama froze, watching as Akira calmly finished his bowl of tea and then moved over to the sink to clean his tea bowl and stack it on the drying rack.

"Thank you for sharing your tea with me, Kurama," he said. "I'll see you tomorrow after my guard shift?"

Kurama numbly nodded, his eyes never leaving Akira as he silently left the room.

* * *

The last time Yusuke could remember being in a free-for-all brawl was back in the days when he was still living in the human world. It seemed strangely ironic to him that demons were more likely to honour the promise of a one-on-one fight than humans were, but he could think of several instances of group fights in the living world where everyone had literally thrown themselves into a pile and yet he could only think of one instance of that happening in demon world. It was not that he had not expected to end up fighting against Yomi's men at all, it was more that he was surprised by their technique and strategy. Usually demons of their rank and position were even less likely not to adhere to an honour code and yet they were swarming all over Yusuke and his team as though they were a gang of bloodthirsty and irrational E-class demons.

And they were hitting really, really hard.

They were, of course, Yomi's hand-picked selection of top fighters from within Gandara, and so of course they were strong fighters. As far as Yusuke understood, they were all A-class demons and some were possibly even in the lower ranks of the S-class power level: but they barely outnumbered Yusuke's team three to one, and, against such odds, the sheer strength of Yusuke's team ought to have overwhelmed them within minutes, especially as none of the fighters were using any of their special attacks; but Yomi's men were getting back up after blows that should have left them unconscious for days and they were hitting harder and fighting dirtier than they usually would.

"Be careful Yusuke," Touya said as he brought up an arm to block a blow that had been aimed at the back of Yusuke's head.

"What's with these guys?" Yusuke asked him, elbowing one in the gut and striking another in the jaw with a well-aimed uppercut.

"Judging by their reckless abandon and the fact that they are using their life energy infused into their demon energy to fight, I'd say they are under the control of the Dark Force," Touya replied.

Yusuke paused as long as he possibly could before being forced to defend himself from attack, using the moment to conduct a quick survey of their attackers.

"All of them?" he asked as he rejoined the fight.

"I'd say so," Touya replied.

"How the hell did that happen?" Yusuke asked. "Obviously they wanted to be evil all along, right?"

"I don't think so," Touya replied. "I've trained with most of these men and the ones I know would not have willingly given themselves over to the enemy. I think they've been taken over against their will."

"I thought you said the Dark Force wasn't strong enough to take over A-class demons. And we killed Risho: shouldn't that have weakened it?"

"Not if it already had all of these men under its control."

"How did it get this strong this fast?"

"It must have managed to consume someone more powerful. As long as the host body stays alive, we'll never manage to stop it. We'll continue this way, stagnated fighting off rogue groups like this one, and all the while, the enemy will grow stronger and ultimately take control of Demon World."

"That's a really cheerful outlook."

"That's the reality, Yusuke!" Hiei barked as he dropped down between Yusuke and Touya.

Yusuke glanced at him and then turned to him in a distinct double-take. His distraction cost him a punch to the gut that actually hurt, but he considered it worth it.

"What happened to you?" he asked.

Hiei ignored the question, but Yusuke could not escape the fact that Hiei actually looked like he was trying.

"You've got something on your face, and I'm not talking about your extra eyeball," Yusuke said, smirking at Hiei.

Hiei punched his left hand into a would-be attacker and moved his right hand towards Yusuke, tilting his wrist so that Yusuke could see his own reflection in the flat of the blade of Hiei's sword.

"I don't look any worse than you do," Hiei said flatly as Yusuke looked down at his reflection.

Yusuke knew that he had taken a few blows to the face, but he had not expected to see so many obvious signs of injury.

"I look worse than Kuwabara after a fight," he concluded.

Hiei grunted and moved on, leaving Yusuke to continue pushing back bodies that kept rising back up despite them even looking as though they were still unconscious.

"If these guys are using their life energy to make them stronger," Yusuke began.

"They won't be able to sustain their attack," Touya finished for him.

"Right," Yusuke said. "So we just gotta keep this up a little longer and then we can go find where the Dark Force is hiding his sorry ass."

"I think we should deal with the situation here thoroughly and recruit as many allies as we possibly can before we go after Enki."

Despite his zeal to find the Dark Force again – because catching a glimpse of it inside Risho had really only made him all the more determined to face the enemy head-on – Yusuke had been willing to agree with everything Touya had been saying about fixing whatever disaster had occurred at Yomi's temple and then getting as many other able fighters as they could before moving on, since he did not want to spend the next several days and possibly even weeks getting bogged down fighting off hoards of senseless puppets rather than dealing with the puppet master; but Touya's last words stalled his thought process slightly.

"Yeah, we still don't know where Enki is," he said. "We don't even have any leads. We've been too busy with Risho and all of his crap and now this mess at Yomi's place."

"Mate, I don't think you understand," Chu said as he almost staggered into Yusuke.

Yusuke turned to him, losing a little more confidence when he saw that even Chu looked a little worse for wear despite his obvious advantage in the type of fighting scenario they were in.

"What do you mean?" Yusuke asked him.

"I think Touya's tryin' to tell us Enki's the one we're after here," Chu explained.

"Well obviously, yeah!" Yusuke replied. "That was why Koenma called on us in the first place, right? Enki went missing and Spirit World started getting involved. Finding Enki was supposed to be the first thing we did here."

"Mate, you're not listenin'," Chu said.

"Huh?" Yusuke echoed.

"Think about it, Yusuke," Suzuka said. "Enki went missing just before chaos hit Demon World. Nothing we've done has had any impact on what's happening, which means the Dark Force must have only been controlling Risho and it clearly wasn't influencing Rinku in any way. The Dark Force has already consumed one of the most powerful demons in this world and its gone into hiding so that it can preserve itself and build its strength and influence."

Yusuke ducked out of range of a punch, feeling quite numb as his mind manufactured an image of Enki hiding in a cave high on a mountainside, watching over the madness erupting all over Demon World with the aid of a telescope of cartoonish proportions.

"Are you saying Enki's the bad guy?" he asked.

"It does seem to be the most logical conclusion," Touya replied. "And, if our assumption is correct, it is highly unfortunate, because it's likely that the Dark Force has already flaunted Enki's influence to persuade his closest allies to join it in its cause."

"Enki and his friends are all bad guys?" Yusuke asked.

"This is all just speculation," Touya reminded him.

"But it's a logical solution to the question of what this is all about," Suzuka added.

"Damn…"

Yusuke fought on, but in the back of his mind, he could not escape the idea that what had started out as something seemingly simple was rapidly turning into something much bigger and more complicated. His instinct was to blame Koenma for miscalculating the timing of their counter-attack – it was so typical of Spirit World to underestimate the problem and then only throw a minimal resource at it in the hope of resolving it – but he did remember that Koenma had said the Dark Force rarely got past Demon World or through the defences of Spirit World. He did not know where Mukuro was, but Koenma had definitely said that she – along with Raizen – had been instrumental in banishing the Dark Force the last time around, and so if he could get to Yomi and then to Mukuro and convince them to join with his team, he was optimistic that they could get rid of the weird old ghost and free Enki without the need for Hiei to behead him.

He just hoped that Spirit World had not similarly underestimated the need to be vigilant against the enemy in the other two worlds. Given how the situation was spiralling out of control in Demon World, the last thing Yusuke wanted to find out was that the fighters in Spirit World or the living world were playing games and ignoring the problem.

* * *

"You're late. Is everything okay?"

"Sorry. I guess I slept in."

"That's okay. Maybe you were more tired after training with Kurama."

"Maybe."

"Sit down. You want some cake?"

"What kind of cake is it?"

"I dunno, Keiko made it."

"Probably not then."

"Hey, don't be like that! You don't even know what's in it yet!"

"I just woke up. I don't think mom wants me eating cake for breakfast."

"Your mom's not here right now. I won't tell her if you don't!"

"Shut-up, you can't lie to mom. You know you can't. She'll see right through you and then she'll give you a lecture on leading me astray and me a lecture on good nutrition again."

"Heh, yeah, I guess you're right. So um… Is everything okay? I heard you found a couple of snake eels in Aokigahara."

"Dragon fish."

"Right."

"Yeah. It was okay."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Um… When I was taking over my shift from Fubuki, she said you got a bit upset when you found a dead body."

"Pfft, what does she know, right?"

"Come on, don't be like that. What happened?"

"Nothing."

"Come on."

"Nothing happened! It's fine. I'm handling it."

"Okay. If you say it's fine, I believe you."

"I am saying it's fine."

"Then I believe you."

"No you don't. You're such a bad liar. Mom's right about you."

"I like to think being honest is a good thing. I'm pretty sure it's what your mom likes best about me too."

"Mom doesn't tell lies either."

"No, she doesn't."

Kurama had never really considered voyeurism to be an honourable practise, but he had noticed Akira going to start his shift on guard purely by chance, and, before he could stop himself, Kurama had followed him out to the end of the lawn, where Akira had joined Kuwabara by the top of the temple steps.

"Are you still behaving yourself?" Kuwabara asked suddenly.

"I always behave myself," Akira replied.

"You're not still being rude to Kaisei, right?" Kuwabara asked.

"No, I'm not," Akira sulkily replied. "But for the record, I never was rude to him."

"Only when you thought he deserved it, right?" Kuwabara asked sarcastically.

"Exactly," Akira plainly replied.

"Akira."

"What?"

"Don't be mean."

"I'm not being mean. I just don't like the way he thinks he's so much smarter than everyone else just because he knows lots of facts about useless things like how many copies of some random video game were made before it got banned. He thinks he's better than anyone who he thinks is stupid, and he thinks anyone who doesn't know as much about video games and movies and politics as he does is stupid."

"That's not true. He's a great guy."

"He's a tool."

"Akira!"

"You can't make me feel something I don't."

"I'm just asking you to be nice to someone."

"I can't do that either. Not if I don't think it's right."

"Don't be so stubborn. You're nice to Fubuki. Can't you be that nice to Kaisei too?"

"It's different with Fubuki."

"Why? Because she's a girl?"

"No. She's just more honest."

"Are you sure it's not because she's a girl?"

"Maybe it is a little bit because she's a girl. But she just makes more sense to me. She's an asshole."

Kuwabara gasped, but Akira sat still at his side, his feet neatly crossed and tucked back on the step below him, his bandaged hands resting in his lap.

"Don't use language like that!" Kuwabara eventually recovered. "Gees, your mom would kill me if she heard you saying words like that!"

"I'm just being honest," Akira plainly replied. "Fubuki is an asshole. She just says and does whatever she wants. She doesn't care if people don't like it. She's an asshole, but she's an honest asshole. Kaisei's still just a tool."

"Okay Akira, whatever you do, don't say any of this to Kurama, okay?" Kuwabara said. "Or your mom!"

"I've already said all of this to my mom."

"What?"

"I don't keep secrets from mom. We tell each other everything."

"But you haven't told Kurama, right?"

"No."

"Okay. Don't tell Kurama. And don't be rude to him, okay?"

"I'm not rude to Kurama."

"Okay. And don't be rude to Kaisei."

"I'm not rude to Kaisei!"

"You just don't think you are. And remember to brush your hair. Your mom gets really mad at me when she sees you looking all scraggly like that."

"Okay, dad."

Kurama thought it odd that Akira's last remark was met with silence, especially when his tone had become so sarcastic, but an extended silence did then pass between Kuwabara and Akira.

"You forgot to tell me to remember to brush my teeth and wash behind my ears," Akira said suddenly.

"I also forget to tell you to smile, you little gloomy guts," Kuwabara replied.

"Smiling's over-rated," Akira replied.

"Now you're being cheeky," Kuwabara pointed out.

"I'm smiling on the inside," Akira dryly replied. "My life is sunshine and lollipops. You just can't see it from over there."

"You can be sarcastic and negative all you want, but I know how to make you smile."

Akira turned his head to look up at Kuwabara, sitting on the step at his side.

"Well obviously it's not from telling one of your lame jokes," he said.

Kuwabara turned to Akira and grinned.

"Nope, it's like this."

Akira yelped and leapt to his feet as Kuwabara grabbed a hand at his mid-section.

"That's not funny!" Akira complained.

Kuwabara slowly stood up and drew in a deep breath, and, despite cowering back from him, Akira was smiling up at Kuwabara.

"It's on," Kuwabara said, before grabbing his hands at Akira.

Seeing the two capering was not really a surprising sight to Kurama. There was nothing unusual about a father tickling his own child into a fit of giggles, after all. But it was odd to see Akira having fun, to hear him laughing; and it was really strange to see that he had no problem letting Kuwabara grab and poke at him after he had reacted so violently to Kaisei touching him.

Though he had been equally comfortable allowing Fubuki to touch him.

Perhaps it was a trust thing. Perhaps he only let those he cared about get physically close to him.

Another trait he shared with Hiei, Kurama thought darkly.

"Say uncle!" Kuwabara said.

"No way!" Akira squealed.

Kurama also found it strangely amusing that Akira was really only squirming around despite Kuwabara's playful assault: with his speed and agility, he could easily have outmanoeuvred Kuwabara. Again it seemed to be a sign of how much he trusted his father.

"Say it!" Kuwabara insisted.

"No!" Akira cried.

Kurama turned to leave, deciding it would be best to get out of sight before Kuwabara officially finished his shift on guard and ended up coming across the fox demon watching him. As he left, he could hear Kuwabara and Akira continue their tussle until, just as he reached the porch, he heard Akira shout out "you cheated" and then he heard Kuwabara laugh and start running away.

Kurama smiled as he ascended the porch steps. Maybe Kuwabara was right. Maybe Akira was just an insecure kid who had been mislabelled by Spirit World.

* * *

Botan's favourite part of her working day was having a mid-morning break with some of her fellow ferry girls to enjoy tea and cakes. They all worked shifts, so who turned up each day varied – often Botan herself could not attend if she was out working or if she had been on a night shift and was still sleeping – and it was always fun to sit down for half an hour and chat with the girls. They all took turns preparing the treats for the event, and that day, it was Botan's turn. She had made honey oat cookies, which she had been reliably informed were her speciality, and she smiled cheerfully to herself as she entered the break room and heard the excited chatter of five other ferry girls who were already huddled around a table adorned with an ornate pot of tea and a set of matching tea bowls and side plates.

"Good morning ladies!" Botan greeted them.

They all turned to her smiling, but oddly their smiles faded slightly as she held out the plate she had piled high with home baked cookies.

"It-it was your turn to bake, Botan?" one of the girls asked.

"Yes, and I made my own very special recipe!" Botan enthusiastically replied.

"I'll say. That's sure my favourite."

Botan's face dropped at the sound of a male voice in what was a break room intended for use only by ferry girls. She slowly moved her eyes to the figure approaching from the door at the other end of the room, her heart sinking as she noticed the familiar colours of an officer of the SDF.

"Hello Saito," Botan said flatly as he stopped in front of her.

"This looks good," he said, his eyes wandering in the general direction of the plate of cookies she was still holding at her chest. "MILF and cookies."

As he picked up one of the cookies from the plate, Botan silently hoped that none of the other ferry girls knew what a "MILF" was. She watched as he tried to take a bite out of the cookie, apparently straining to bite through it, before chewing twice and then spitting it back out onto the plate and replacing the remainder of the cookie on top of the pile.

"That was disgusting," he said flatly.

"You're disgusting!" one of the ferry girls said, leaping to her feet and glaring at him angrily.

Saito rounded on her and her eyes doubled in size and the colour drained from her face. The other girls quickly stood up around her, but they all looked as terrified as she did.

"It appears that Koenma isn't doing his duty of educating his ferry girls correctly," Saito said to the others. "So allow me to illuminate the facts for you. I am an officer of the SDF. In Spirit World, I rank up here."

He held his hand up above his head as though marking an invisible point in the air.

"For reference, King Enma ranks here," he added, inching his hand up just fractionally, to the fullest extent he could stretch his arm to. "Koenma ranks here."

Botan threw him a withering look as he purposefully brought his hand down to his crotch.

"And ferry girls – along with ogres and any other superfluous and readily replaceable servants – rank around about here."

Saito picked another cookie from the plate and dropped it to the floor, poking at it with the toe of his boot.

"Just the right height for boot licking," he said.

"Nobody wants to lick your boots!" one of the ferry girls bravely responded.

"I wouldn't even lick your face!" another added.

"Not even if King Enma himself ordered me to!" a third girl said.

Saito lifted one foot and all five ferry girls slid back a step fearfully. He brought his heel down sharply onto the cookie he had dropped and ground it into the tiled floor.

"I think you've made your point," Botan told him.

"Isn't it funny how true it is that one bad apple really does spoil the whole batch?" Saito said to her.

"I wouldn't know about that," Botan dryly replied.

Saito grunted and turned to the other ferry girls again.

"If you knew what was good for you, you'd stay away from her," he said, pointing at Botan on his last word.

"That's not going to happen!" one of the ferry girls boldly answered him.

She squeaked and clapped her hands over her mouth as he leered at her threateningly. He held his pose until tears formed in her eyes before turning to rake his eyes scornfully over Botan and then finally take his leave.

"I'm sorry about that girls," Botan said, placing down her plate of cookies onto the table. "I'm afraid he spat all over them, they're ruined now."

She knelt down at the table, hanging her head and trying to forget how long she had spent lovingly crafting the cookies before her.

"It's okay!" one of the ferry girls said, kneeling down beside her. "We'll just take off the top layer!"

"Yes, the ones underneath will be just fine!" another girl said as she knelt at Botan's other side and began removing the top layer of cookies.

"And don't apologise for that bully," a third ferry girl said, kneeling down opposite Botan.

"We don't care what he thinks."

"We love your cookies, Botan!"

"And we hate bullies like him!"

"What does "MILF" mean, anyway?"

Botan laughed nervously as all five ferry girls turned to her expectantly. She had no intentions of horrifying them all any further by telling them the real definition of the acronym, and so she reverted back to the definition Shizuru had told her to pretend it meant when she had complained of the SDF officers crudely calling it after her.

"It stands for "Man, I Love Farts"," she said.

"Gross!"

"I bet he's the sort of guy who actually likes the smell of his own farts."

"That's disgusting!"

"It's probably true though."

"He's so arrogant."

"So he just came in here to fart and steal our cookies?"

"How crude!"

"I'm glad he left."

Botan quietly sighed and smiled at one of her friends as she began to pour out tea for her. But, as she watched her friend so kindly prepare her a drink, Botan could not help but feel a pang of guilt as she remembered then what Ayame had told her about the giant tree in the spooky forest beyond the mountains. The thought of all of the lively girls around her – and all the other ferry girls in Spirit World – being reduced to masses of energy inside a tree was a sad enough one for her, but trying to fathom that she would go and take their life forces into herself was quite a challenge.

Her only consolation was the knowledge that – if she did have to take their energy – once the energy was returned to the tree, the ferry girls could all be revived exactly as they were before their deaths.

And Botan knew that must be true because that must have been what had happened after her death four years earlier.

* * *

Hiei no longer cared about hiding how out of breath, sweaty, bloody and bruised he was, since the rest of his team looked even worse than he did. They had all stopped, some doubled over, some sitting down – or in Chu's case, lying down – surrounded by the fallen bodies of the group of Yomi's men who had attacked them upon their approach. Some of the men had exhausted their reserves of life energy and dropped dead where they stood, some had been killed by Hiei or another of his team and the remainder had bled to death. The whole fight had taken an entire day to finish.

It was hard to believe that the Dark Force had become so strong already; but, Hiei thought bitterly, if what everyone else was muttering about was true – if the Dark Force had officially awoken four years earlier following that ridiculous day on High Road – then it seemed logical that the enemy would already be at a level where it could command armies of A-class demons.

Hiei allowed himself to sit down as he began lazily wiping his sword clean with his scarf, which he had recovered as the last of their attackers had fallen. He had yet to find where his discarded cloak had disappeared to, but he was not desperate to recover it. Looking around the others, he could already tell that most of them would suggest resting for a few hours before continuing into Yomi's grounds and potentially facing another melee like the one they had just endured. He did not like wasting time, but equally he was keen to be at his best when entering any conflict, so that he could rely on his fighting skills and not be backed up into a corner and forced to use an attack he no longer had in his arsenal.

And thinking about how he had lost the Dragon of the Darkness Flame, Hiei's thoughts once more returned to that unusual day on High Road and everything that had followed it. After finding himself back at Mukuro's headquarters and as his arm had been healing, he had received what would be his last ever visit from Botan. That day she had arrived in Demon World, looking absolutely dreadful, had been the last time he had seen her prior to the reunion meeting at Genkai's temple where she had crashed into Yusuke in a drunken stupor.

But even in her drunken stupor and after crash-landing, she had looked infinitely better that night than she had the last time she had come looking for Hiei.

He remembered begrudgingly going to see her, silently hoping as he went that as few people as possible back at Mukuro's base would know where he was going and why. When he had arrived, he had looked past her twice before even recognising her, and when he finally did recognise her, it was really only because she was wearing her typical baby pink kimono; albeit grubby, torn in a few places and generally dishevelled, as though she had tried to hurriedly pull it on after immediately stepping out of a bath and it had clung awkwardly to wet skin as she tried to align it.

"Hiei!"

Her voice had been ragged and painful to listen to. Her eyes were red and her pupils contracted and unfocused. Her skin was pale and eyebrows twisted high on her brow, her jaw tense and her lower lip puckered. She sounded as though she had been screaming non-stop for three days and, by the greasy sheen on her skin and twitching of her hands and shoulders, she looked as though she had not slept for at least that long.

"You have to help me!" she rasped.

"I can't help anyone who can't help themselves," Hiei calmly replied.

"Don't start like that, not now, not at a time like this!" she raved.

"You need to calm down," he told her. "You better have a good reason for coming here like this."

"A good reason? Hiei, are you blind? Didn't you see what happened? Didn't you see? It was awful!"

"Are you referring to how your ill-timed and badly planned walking tour of Demon World blew up in your face?"

"Hiei, we've done a terrible thing! We did that! We made that happen! And now… Now the SDF are involved! Hiei, they want blood! They want revenge for losing two of their own! You have to do something! Don't you care? What is wrong with you?"

She was shaking all over and the colour kept fading from her lips and reappearing again as she came dangerously close to collapsing. She looked and sounded so horribly desperate, it had reminded him of something, though he had never been able to think who or what her demeanour that day had reminded him of.

"If you don't start making sense, I am going to turn around and walk away," he warned her.

"How can you be so calm about this?" she shrieked. "Don't you understand? Weren't you listening to me? They're calling for the death sentence! They've already started proceedings! If we don't do something soon, if they get King Enma to sign off on the sentence it will be too late to ever change it! I can't take it any more, you have to do something, I'm not strong enough to make them stop! I've tried everything! Everything, Hiei!"

"I don't understand you. I'm leaving now."

Hiei had turned to leave, silently hoping that he never saw the neurotic ferry girl again: but, at that point, she had hurled herself at him and, with surprising strength for such a weak creature at such a moment of weakness, she had grabbed one of his arms in both her hands and yanked him back around to face her. At the time, he had told himself that she had only succeeded in turning him around because she had grabbed his still crippled right arm; but when he reflected on the matter and thought about how he had actually felt a burst of energy as her hands made contact with him, she seemed to have put every ounce of energy – both spirit and life energy – she had at her disposal into hauling on him, and she had merely caught him off-guard.

"Don't you remember what happened between us?" she growled at him as he met her wild eyes again.

"I told you that was over," he sternly answered her.

She had never been able to let go of it. In his mind, they had merely shared a few brief encounters many years ago. At the time it had been quite important to him, that he would not deny – he had sought her out and laid down with her as a means of distracting himself from something he was anxious about achieving – and she had done a fantastic job of not only helping him to relax and forget about his concerns, but she had also been surprisingly discreet about it all. At the time of their affair, he had assumed that she understood that was all it was: a passionate exchange that was time-limited and merely carnal.

But of course, Botan was an emotional, romantic fool who had apparently mistaken his attentions for something far deeper, as she had consistently hunted him down and tried to appeal to him as though she thought they had been lovers.

"No Hiei, it's not over," she said shakily. "It never will be. This isn't about me and this isn't about you. This isn't even about us. I think I've been very fair, because I let you walk away, because I know that was what you wanted to do. I've never asked for anything from you, but I need just one thing from you now. I just need you to help me. You just have to help me stop it before it's too late. If we could just come back here, to Demon World, they won't come after us. We'll be safe here. You just have to help me. After that, I promise I won't ever even speak to you ever again. Please Hiei, just do this one thing for me and my little pumpkin!"

"…What the hell is a pumpkin?"

Hiei still did not know.

"I can't do it on my own, Hiei!"

She started sobbing and dropped to her knees at his feet.

"I just can't! I can't go back there and watch them carry on like that any more! It isn't fair! They're blaming the wrong person! An innocent will suffer because of this! We did this! It was us! Now we have to fix this Hiei! Please! Please, you have to do something!"

Botan clutched at one leg of Hiei's pants and sobbed into the fabric. Hiei sighed indifferently.

"Let go of me," he said as gently as he could.

She then began speaking nonsensical, garbled words, including something about needing a better bra, grey hair and Genkai. Nothing she had said before that point had made any sense to Hiei, so listening to her choke out random snippets of even less sensible ideas was simply too much to tolerate. He forcibly pulled his leg form her grasp and made to leave again, shortly finding himself being forced to actually lift Botan from his body as she attempted to tackle him from behind. Despite not really wanting to, he threw her down and ran off, knowing that she would never manage to catch up to him.

And that had been the last time he had seen her until the start of the counter effort against the Dark Force.

Hiei had never really liked the condition Botan had let herself get into following the end of their affair and he had especially not liked that last encounter they had had in Demon World, and, after seeing how delirious she was at Keiko's birthday party – and after learning that Yukina was guaranteed a place in Koenma's "safe house" – Hiei had done what he had thought was the right thing to do: he had asked for Botan to be placed in the safe house as his nominated person. He had been a little surprised when Koenma had refused his request, but he had been even more surprised when Koenma had then asked him – through a sneer, no less – if there was not someone else he thought he ought to be asking for.

Just as Hiei was contemplating how odd the residents of Spirit World were, he had a sudden revelation of exactly which moment in his life he had been reminded of when Botan had appeared in Demon World all scraggly and desperate and making nonsensical demands of him.

She had looked and sounded exactly the same way Hiei's mother had in the moments building up to his exile from the ice village.

How odd.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** Fubuki lays it on thick in her attempts to seduce Kurama, Ayame brings bad news to the LW team and a mysterious package of baked goods for Akira, the DW team can't seem to get passed Yomi's controlled guards, but during the fighting, Yusuke thinks he might have solved part of the DF's riddle, the LW team fight a fearsome demon with disastrous consequences, another hero falls in the line of duty, leaving behind a creepy message from the enemy. **Chapter 14 – Precipice of Darkness**

**A/N:** Okay, so the last part of this chapter doesn't read very well… My original draft had Botan being more explicit (as in more to the point and less vague, not as in cursing more!), but I thought it was too spoilertastic to have her tell her version of what happened on High Road just yet. I just wanted to throw out there that there are obvious gaps in what Hiei can remember about it (like he remembers the dragon leaving his body and then he remembers waking up in a healing chamber, and obviously a lot happened in between those two events). And as was hinted earlier in this chapter, Botan actually died that day, so obviously there's a gaping hole in Hiei's version of events that's almost as big as the hole in High Road. (Oh dear, that was lame…)


	14. Precipice of Darkness

**Chapter 14 – Precipice of Darkness**

"How is the watch going?"

Kurama stopped at the railing of the porch at Fubuki's side, watching her from the corner of his eye. She smiled and turned towards him, running her eyes over him before answering.

"Is that really why you came out here?" she asked coyly. "To ask about my totally quiet and boringly non-eventful shift on guard duty?"

Kurama had actually gone to speak to her because Yukina had gone out to the forest to gather herbs, Akira had holed himself up in his bedroom, Kuwabara had fallen asleep and Shizuru had been amusing herself watching Keiko and Kaisei argue over the ambiguous ending of a movie they had watched together. Under such circumstances, Fubuki had become the simplest and easiest of companions within the safe house, and so Kurama had primarily gone outside to chat with her under the guise of checking on her.

"Yes," he lied.

"Wow, that's boring," Fubuki said with a sigh.

She leaned forwards to rest her elbows on the railing, moving herself into a position Kurama was sure was deliberate, as it did highlight just how well her dusky blue yoga pants fitted her.

"I thought you handled yourself very well yesterday," he said, trying to avert his eyes.

"At Aokigahara?" she asked, looking up at him but holding her position.

"Yes," he confirmed.

"Yeah, I thought I did a good job vanquishing that freaky snake monster too," she said. "And, even though he had a slight error of judgement, I thought Kai did a good job too. And Akira was great. I didn't see you getting your hands dirty though. You left that forest with not one single pretty hair out of place,"

"Two dragon fish should not pose a problem to even one warrior of your calibre, Fubuki. I wanted to know that the three of you could handle the situation without help from me or Kuwabara."

"You already know I can handle myself, Kurama."

"I have always been confident that you and your brother work exceptionally well as a team, but it was refreshing to see you work alone and alongside Akira. I was worried Akira was uncooperative in such situations."

"I've got that kid wrapped around my little finger. He does anything I tell him to."

"Including your hair and make-up?"

Fubuki smiled and stood up straight, turning towards Kurama again.

"I haven't taught him how to do my make-up," she said. "But he is excellent at applying nail polish and styling my hair. He loves my hair. Well, actually, he loves any girl with long hair."

"At his age, it's preferable that he's attracted to hair than any other physical aspect of a woman."

Fubuki made a strange humming noise and Kurama turned towards her questioningly.

"The little kid is a pervert," she said. "You wouldn't believe some of the things he's said to me. When we first moved out here, Kuwabara told us we all had to help with chores around the house – he said it was unfair to expect Yukina to do everything – so Kai took over sweeping up and dusting and me and the little pixie boy did the laundry and the dishes. At first it was fine, but a few months ago, he started commenting on my underwear whenever he came across it in the laundry. He's especially interested in my bras."

Kurama felt his face grow hot, though he was not sure what he found more embarrassing: the thought of a ten year old boy obsessing over a grown woman's underwear, talking about it or the thought of Fubuki's underwear itself.

"You're embarrassed talking about it?" Fubuki asked. "How do you think I felt when he was holding up my bras and asking me if they "gave good support"?"

"What?" Kurama echoed.

"The nicer I am to him, the weirder he gets," Fubuki replied. "But… In a way, as awkward as it is, I kinda like it. It's hilarious finding out how weird he can get when you really let him. Kuwabara told us we had to be nice to him and that he was shy and he might take time to warm to us, but he opened up to me pretty quickly and without that much effort on my part."

"Do you know anything about what sort of relationship Akira has with anyone from Spirit World?"

"He loves the ferry girls. He's always all over them when one of them comes here. Especially Botan. If he finds out she's coming here, he brushes his hair and he picks her flowers… Honestly, I think Botan might be the one girl he likes better than me."

"Botan is a very affable girl."

"Yeah, well, as far as Akira is concerned, the key word there is "girl". He definitely likes the ladies, but he's a lot slower to warm to the boys. Hence why he's so cheeky to Kai and Koenma. The only guy he really opens up to is Kuwabara. But they're related, right?"

Kurama nodded.

"Though he might open up to you too," Fubuki continued. "He does love hair and you do have fantastic hair."

Kurama smiled.

"Now you're being facetious," he said.

"No, I'm being jealous," Fubuki corrected him. "I'd kill to have hair that silky and styleable."

Kurama tried to swallow back his mounting feeling of awkwardness.

"Does it feel as good as it looks?"

He turned to Fubuki, finding her watching him quite intently. She tentatively lifted a hand towards him, pausing with her fingers outstretched by his shoulder. He gave a small nod of his head and turned slightly to allow her easier access to his hair, watching from the corner of his eye as she lightly teased her fingers through the length if a section of his hair.

"Wow, it's so soft and manageable," she said quietly.

She leaned closer, her face coming close enough to his that he could feel the heat of her cheek against his own.

"Ooh, and it smells really nice too," she said. "Is that mango conditioner?"

She turned her head slightly and he mimicked her action, finding himself so close to her that her features were slightly out of focus to his eyes.

"I'm really sorry to interrupt."

Fubuki spun around, her hair whipping around after her and slapping Kurama across the face. He blinked and shook off the sting of the ends of her hair lashing over his eyes before refocusing his attention on the solemn figure standing on the lawn below them.

"Oh hi," Fubuki said. "It's Ayame, right?"

The dark-haired ferry girl nodded, her expression remaining decidedly dour.

"I came here to deliver this," she said, holding up a bindle bag. "But on my way over, I noticed something in Sarayashiki. There appears to be a disturbance in the car park of the shopping mall on the west side of the city. I distinctly detected demon energy at play."

"Have you told Koenma?" Kurama asked her.

"No, but I will do when I return to Spirit World," she replied.

"Aw, does this mean I have to miss out on the action?" Fubuki moaned.

Kurama checked his watch.

"I'm afraid we are right in the middle of your shift, and Kuwabara will want to address the matter himself, what with it occurring in the city he loves so dearly," Kurama replied. "But you will be solely in charge of matters here, and we're all trusting you to keep this safe house safe in our absence."

Fubuki groaned and rolled her eyes. Kurama smiled gently at her before noticing then that Ayame had ascended the porch steps and was starting towards the door, the lumpy little bindle bag still cradled in her upturned hands.

"Wait," Kurama said, holding out a hand towards her.

Ayame stopped, moving her eyes to him.

"What's in the bag?" he asked her.

"It's not for you," she answered.

Although her expression had remained impassive as she spoke, her tone had contained more than a hint of irritation.

"That's not the question I asked you," Kurama said, taking a step closer to her. "You understand that we are at the precipice of a Dark Age and there is no margin for any secrets or suspicious behaviour between allies. Now I will ask you again: what is in the bag?"

"It's not for you," Ayame replied, turning her head to face him. "It's just food. But it's not for you."

"If it's just food, you won't mind opening the bag and letting me look inside it," Kurama said.

"Do you really believe an enemy as intelligent and confrontational as the Dark Force would resort to poisoning to dispose of its enemies?" Ayame responded.

Kurama had not been especially suspicious of what Ayame was taking into the house – she had always been Koenma's most trusted aide, even more so than Botan, and so he had started out merely curious about what she had brought to the house – but her behaviour was rapidly making him both suspicious and angry.

"I'm in charge around here, right?" Fubuki said, stepping forwards. "So let me handle this."

Ayame cried out a noise of complaint as Fubuki snatched the bag from her hands and opened it out, but made no real effort to recover it. Once she had opened out the cloth, Fubuki stared at the contents for several seconds before lifting her eyes to Kurama, her face twisted into a look of disgust. He leaned closer to her to peer into the cloth, finding that it only seemed to contain half a dozen slightly burnt, misshapen flapjacks.

"It's not for you," Ayame said again.

"Thank God for that," Fubuki said, closing up the cloth into a bindle bag again and passing it back to Ayame.

"Let's go inside and discuss our next course of action," Kurama suggested.

"Me too?" Fubuki asked.

"Yes, everyone in the house should participate in this discussion," Kurama replied.

Fubuki nodded and together they followed Ayame into the house. Kurama directed Ayame into the living room, where Shizuru was still watching on as Keiko and Kaisei continued to argue with each other and Kuwabara slept soundly in the corner of the room, oblivious to it all. Kurama then sent Fubuki to collect Akira whilst he himself headed outside to locate Yukina.

Kurama had assumed that it would take him as long to jog down to the edge of the trees and collect Yukina as it would for Fubuki to coax Akira out of his bedroom: so when he still had not found Yukina after several minutes of jogging along the edge of the trees and calling out to her, Kurama began to grow concerned. It was not like her to wander far, and the herbs she usually gathered mostly grew at the very edge of the treeline. As Kurama began to curse having relinquished his communication mirror to Akira, he suddenly felt a blast of bitterly cold air wash over him and he stopped short.

"Hello Kurama. Is everything alright?"

Kurama turned to see Yukina stepping out of the trees behind him, apparently coming from a direction he had just walked past. She had a basket of herbs resting in the crook of one arm and the usual sweet, unassuming smile on her face: but he could not help but notice the faint hint of pink in her cheeks and that her chest was visibly moving as though she had just been running to the limit of her abilities.

"We've received another report of demon activity," Kurama told her.

"Oh no!" she said, clutching a fist by her mouth.

"Come inside, we're discussing our plans," Kurama added.

Yukina nodded and together they set walked briskly back towards the temple; but as they walked, Kurama could actually hear that Yukina was breathless. She could have just wandered off after an injured animal, he told himself, but it was unlike her to venture too deeply into the woods on her own. However, as they were facing a bigger problem, Kurama decided to question her on the matter later.

As they arrived in the living room, Kurama was pleased to see Kuwabara awake and sitting forwards attentively, Keiko and Kaisei sitting quietly ignoring each other and Akira standing at Fubuki's side.

"Ayame just told us what she saw," Kuwabara greeted Kurama.

"Right, good," Kurama said. "Obviously we will be moving out to investigate this matter. As it is Fubuki's shift on guard duty, I will be asking her to remain behind and keep a watch on things here. Kuwabara, Kaisei, Akira and I will go to the site in question. If there are any problems here, please get in touch with us. While we are gone, I would like everyone to remain indoors – and that includes you, Fubuki. If anything happens or if anyone approaches the temple, only Fubuki should go outdoors."

"You're making it sound really scary," Keiko said.

"It's perhaps not so serious this time around, but it's good practise to treat every situation like a worst case scenario event," Kurama replied. "And in the worst case scenario, this is the protocol we would follow."

"I guess…" Keiko mumbled.

Shizuru put a reassuring arm around her shoulders and Kaisei and Kuwabara stood up. Kurama nodded at them and they started to leave – but, as they left the room, from the corner of his eye, Kurama saw Akira pass the bindle bag of baked goods to Shizuru and ask her to keep it safe for him.

* * *

"I haven't felt this welcome anywhere since the last time I "accidentally" walked into the ladies' locker room at Keiko's gym," Yusuke commented as the group once again stopped, just outside the entrance of Yomi's temple.

Another group of Yomi's top men had come out to meet them, looking every bit as insensible as the last group had.

"This is getting us nowhere," Hiei growled.

"Our only other option would be to separate into two groups, with one group fighting off the attackers and covering the other group as they entered the temple," Touya replied.

"I don't think we should separate again," Chu said.

"But if we keep moving at this pace, it could take us a week to get inside," Suzuka pointed out.

"We shouldn't separate," Hiei said sternly. "Or if we do, we shouldn't bother reuniting afterwards. From this point on, we can't trust that anyone who leaves the group will not become tainted."

"You need to relax and be a little less suspicious, little man," Jin said to him.

"Yeah Hiei," Yusuke agreed. "We at least know we can trust each other."

"Have you all forgotten what happened with Risho already?" Hiei asked.

"He wasn't screened by Spirit World like we were," Yusuke replied. "I think we should split up. Four of us could stay out here fighting these guys while two of us could rush inside."

"I disagree with splitting the group like that," Touya objected. "We should never split into a group with less than three members. Two people could turn on each other if the Dark Force gets to one of them, a third can offer an objective point of view."

"And with a group of three, two could turn against one," Yusuke pointed out.

"Rock, paper, scissors to see who goes which way?" Suzuka asked.

"I don't like this idea, mates," Chu protested.

"Neither do I," Hiei agreed.

"It's not like it was before though," Jin said. "I say the two fastest of us storms the temple and the other four fight on. Hiei?"

Hiei flinched back from the wind demon.

"What do you want from me?" he asked sourly.

"What's say you and me rush in while the other boys fight on?" Jin asked.

"That's a good idea," Yusuke agreed. "Hiei's the fastest and Jin's the most agile, so it makes sense for the two of you to rush in. And based on the way these guys are fighting, it makes the most sense for me and Chu to stay out here fighting, since brawling is what we do best."

"I am better suited to remaining behind to fight in this situation too," Touya added. "I can slow down our opponents and allow for a wider window of opportunity for those entering to get by."

"I'd rather not stay here and fight, I'd rather go inside," Suzuka argued. "I'm still not fully recovered from the last fight, I'd be better at the espionage part than the slugging it out part of this plan."

"Okay," Yusuke said with a shrug. "So Suzuka, you go with Hiei, Jin, you stay here and fight with us."

"I think the little man would probably be better to stay behind with you boys," Jin said. "I can lift me and Suzuka up onto the roof and drop down that way, I'm definitely your best man for rushin' inside."

Yusuke nodded and Suzuka moved over to join Jin.

"I still don't like this plan," Chu said.

"Me neither, but we are up against time here," Touya replied. "The longer we spend debating such minor matters, the stronger we allow the enemy to become."

"Exactly, so let's stop talking and let's get moving!" Hiei added.

"Now you're talking my language!" Yusuke said. "Good luck guys," he added, nodding at Jin and Suzuka.

They waved and then took off as Yusuke and the others charged at the latest group of Yomi's men to oppose them. Yusuke was not entirely surprised to find them fighting in the same manner as the last group had – with sheer brute force and utilising life energy alongside demon energy – but he was still surprised at just how hard they could hit. As he parried their attacks, he stole glances at Jin and Suzuka, waiting until they had safely reached the temple roof before attacking back in earnest. And, although there were fewer demons than there had been in their previous altercation, Yusuke found himself missing Jin and Suzuka's presence. A brawl was always best fought with a group of allies, and he supposed that he had, during the last scuffle, become slightly reliant on the skills that Jin and Suzuka brought to the fight. Overcompensating for them ought not to have been a huge challenge, but the continual fighting and the idea that Enki himself could be the mastermind – albeit the puppet mastermind – of the whole thing was taking its toll on Yusuke, who found himself making a few careless errors of judgement that led to him taking hits he would normally have deflected or avoided and missing with his own counter-attacks.

But, despite Hiei and Chu's negativity about the matter, Yusuke was confident about Jin and Suzuka's ability to successfully infiltrate the temple and reach Yomi; and not only because – unlike Hiei – he actually knew how to trust his friends. Yusuke had been thinking about the prophetic poem the Dark Force had left for them, and he had figured out what it actually meant. It had referred to "the chosen eight", which had seemed to mean the Demon World team themselves at first. But, since Rinku and Shishiwakamaru had perished, clearly it had not meant the original eight on their team. Clearly it referred to the remaining six members of the team – Yusuke, Hiei, Jin, Touya, Chu and Suzuka – and the only other two fighters Yusuke knew who would be of any interest to an enemy like the Dark Force: Kurama and Kuwabara.

Yusuke was so sure of his conclusion that he had even worked it backwards to explain the rest of the poem. The part about "fourteen years it's far too late" was a reference to how Yusuke had died at fourteen and then started on a path of training and fighting that had ultimately led to him reawakening as a demon. The part about "spirit, heart, soul and mind" was a reference to the original spirit detective team: Hiei was the spirit, Kuwabara was the heart, Yusuke was the soul and Kurama was the mind. It all indicated that the Dark Force was after the chosen eight – Yusuke, Hiei, Kurama, Kuwabara, Jin, Touya, Chu and Suzuka – but it had a preference for the four members of the former spirit detective team – Yusuke, Hiei, Kurama and Kuwabara – and, overall, its primary focus was Yusuke himself.

The only part Yusuke had yet to figure out was exactly what role the Dark Force envisaged for "the chosen eight". Did it intend to take control of them all, or was it creating an army to oppose them all? Yusuke was leaning towards the latter, especially as the Dark Force had apparently taken Enki and, judging by the mess and chaos around Yomi's temple, it appeared to be trying to take Yomi. Yusuke theorised that the enemy was recruiting an army that would be headlined by eight warriors stronger than "the chosen eight", and if it had managed to take Enki, and it succeeded in taking Yomi, it was already a quarter of the way towards achieving that goal.

Yusuke just hoped that, if the Dark Force did manage to recruit an army of eight demons as powerful as Enki and Yomi, the final showdown would take place in Demon World and not in the living world, as such a battle would be catastrophic there and likely to kill millions, including everyone in the safe house.

* * *

Kuwabara was driving ridiculously slowly, but Kurama did not complain. From some distance away, the devastation at the mall had been evident, and, as they rolled through the car park at barely walking speed, all four inside the car were staring out their nearest window with wide eyes at the broken lights, overturned cars – some of which were ablaze – and the mall building itself, which had a section of wall missing, showing the hollowed out shops inside. The Dark Age had officially reached the living world, and far faster and more severely than Kurama had expected it to; and inwardly he told himself that, as news of the damage to the mall broke, he could use it as an excuse to bring his mother to the safe house.

Kuwabara finally stopped the car – literally in the middle of a stretch of road between parking bays – and all four opened their doors and stepped out. Kurama stepped forwards to stand alongside Kuwabara, who he had been sitting behind in the back seat.

"This is real bad," Kuwabara commented.

"We must act quickly," Kurama replied.

He looked over the roof of the car, seeing Kaisei still standing by the front passenger door he had exited from. Behind him he could just make out the top of Akira's head by the back seat he had been sitting in.

"We approach with caution and we stay together until I say otherwise," he advised.

Kaisei nodded and all four moved on silently, picking their way through broken glass and warped metal car parts. It was still the middle of the day and the mall car park had been about half full, but there was not a single sign of any human life around. Kuwabara and Kaisei both made small noises of concern and Kurama knew why: most of the wrecked cars contained fresh corpses.

"We can check for survivors later," Kurama advised them. "If we don't act now to stop what's causing this, there will only be more corpses to sort through."

At the entrance of the mall they passed an abandoned ambulance, the engine still running, and two police cars, one of which looked as though a giant boulder had dropped onto its roof and then vanished, leaving all the windows smashed and the roof caved in, squashing the two officers who had been inside. Seeing their blood pooling out through the broken front windscreen, Kurama turned to check on Akira, balking when he noticed Kuwabara walking with his hands on either side of the boy's head as makeshift blinkers.

Inside the mall was oddly silent. The shops immediately inside the entrance all looked as they usually would, and the water feature up ahead was still trickling away. Looking to the right showed a similarly serene scene – the only odd part being the lack of people or movement – but looking to the left, towards the part of the mall where a section of wall had been blown out, some of the distant shops had broken windows. A mannequin in a red dress was leaning out over a jagged line of glass shards. A light in the display of the games shop was flickering. There were stains and dropped shopping bags and stray shoes visible in the distance.

"What kinda monster would do something like this?" Kuwabara grumbled. "Attacking innocent people just out shopping…"

Kurama started as he felt the sudden presence of something, something he had not even felt approaching, something that had clearly managed to mask its aura until the last possible moment. His head snapped up to the upper level, the sight of a domed shadow moving along one wall telling him exactly what they were up against.

"This is bad," he whispered. "That is a B-class demon, and its presence here does not bode well for the living world."

"My mom was a B-class fighter," Kaisei casually replied. "I eat B-class demons for breakfast!"

"Kaisei, wait!" Kurama cried.

But Kaisei ignored him, using the water fountain to leap his way up to the upper level. Kurama turned to Kuwabara, who merely shook his head and summoned his spirit sword – the sight of which was oddly reassuring to Kurama.

"What sort of demon is it?" Akira asked Kurama.

"It's a flayer," Kurama replied.

"Ew, no prizes for guessing what that does," Kuwabara said with a shudder before starting after Kaisei.

"What does it do?" Akira asked.

Kurama looked down at Akira's wide, curious eyes, memories of him crying over the corpse back Aokigahara replaying in his mind.

"I'll tell you exactly what it does later," Kurama answered. "But for now, all you really need to know is that relies on close-range attacks, using the blades it has protruding from its forearms. Just don't get within striking range and you will be fine."

Akira nodded and then shot off, reaching the upper level ahead of Kuwabara. Kurama hurried after them, reaching the top level alongside Kuwabara. It had been at least a century since Kurama had last seen a flayer, and he was unsure if time or merely seeing one in a shopping mall had distorted his original memory of them, as the beast was twice the size he remembered them to be. It looked almost human, but due to its hunched spine and inverted legs with low bending elbow joints, it gave the impression of being only around seven feet tall. But in reality, when it straightened up, it was over twelve feet tall: which, upon Kuwabara and Kurama's arrival, it promptly demonstrated.

Kaisei had already dealt a devastating blow to one of the creature's thighs, which caused it to limp as it tried to move. But Kaisei did then do something that highlighted exactly what Kurama had feared had been lacking in his training and battle experience: he moved as if he thought the creature still had the same strike range it had before it had straightened up. Kuwabara leapt forwards and gored Kaisei at the last possible second, the force of his body colliding with Kaisei's sending the younger man falling to the ground and out of the flayer's reach. However the flayer had already launched its attack, its bladed forearm sweeping past Kuwabara and Kaisei with a spray of blood as it effortlessly tore through one of Kuwabara's calves.

A strip of bloodied, jean-covered flesh landed with a splat by Akira's feet and Kurama distinctly saw his face change. Kurama started to reach for his Rose Whip, which thankfully had a longer range than the blades of the flayer, thinking then that he would have to deal with the demon himself.

Kurama paused, his hand still at his shoulder, his Rose Whip still in the form of a red rose and barely removed from under his hair. He glanced over at Kaisei and saw him staring with wide eyes of disbelief that almost reflected how Kurama himself felt. The flayer was thrown back several feet, screaming as it went, pushed away by an enormous blast of black flame, launched by a little emiko who was suddenly floating three feet in the air.

Somehow Akira managed to sustain the blast until he had broken right through the flayer's defences, leaving it screaming and rolling around in an attempt to extinguish the flames burning it. Akira dropped back to the ground but promptly ran at the flayer with little regard for Kurama's former advice as he ran straight up to the creature, placing himself well into its striking range. Kurama shook out his Rose Whip and ran after Akira, a moment of panic rising in his chest as the flayer aimed a vicious swing of its arm at Akira, who was apparently blinded by rage and did not even attempt to dodge it, instead raising his hands as though to launch another blast of Darkness Flame.

Kurama skidded to a halt as Akira fell to the ground and the flayer began thrashing about again, still mostly engulfed in flames. As Kaisei joined him, Kurama pointed him to Akira and moved forward just enough to deliver a fatal blow to the flayer.

Kurama waited until he was sure that the flayer would not rise again from its position smouldering away in a pool of its own blood before turning to see Kuwabara crawling on his belly towards them and Kaisei poking a toe at Akira's shoulder. Kurama stowed his weapon and jogged over to Kuwabara, holding up his hands to indicate that he should stop.

"Stay still, you've taken quite a nasty blow," Kurama warned him.

"What about Akira?" Kuwabara replied, as though he was oblivious to the fact that he had lost a third of the lower part of his left leg.

"You stay still, I'll check on him for you," Kurama insisted.

Kuwabara nodded, despite looking reluctant, and Kurama hurried over to Kaisei's side.

"Looks like he fainted before the flayer could hit him," Kaisei said as Kurama joined him. "Apart from that nasty burn on his neck, he's unharmed."

Kurama looked down at Akira, who had been rolled onto his back. The collar around his neck was still glowing and, for the power he had just exerted, it had clearly dealt him an equally devastating wound. The combination of exerting so much energy along with receiving an equal amount of damage upon himself had clearly been too much for him, and he had apparently done exactly what Kaisei had said: the effort of trying to launch a second attack had caused him to pass out.

"Little shit can be useful after all, huh?" Kaisei commented.

Kurama turned to glare at him, but he appeared to be amused by his remark.

"Do you understand what that collar does to Akira?" Kurama asked him.

"I dunno," Kaisei said with a shrug. "It's a tracking device from Spirit World, isn't it?"

"No it is not," Kurama sternly replied. "It's rigged to inflict damage upon the wearer that is equivalent to the intensity of the attack launched. Did you see what Akira just did to that flayer?"

Kaisei looked over at the flayer and then down at Akira again.

"That was pretty brutal," he concluded. "So the collar hurt him as badly as he hurt that thing?"

"Yes," Kurama replied. "And because of your mistake."

Kaisei turned sharply to Kurama.

"Hey, I didn't make a mistake!" he protested. "And I certainly didn't ask this little bastard to interfere."

"We are a team, we are not interfering when we are assisting each other!" Kurama corrected him.

"Okay, but you clearly don't know how much of a handful that kid is," Kaisei said. "But you're new. Give it time, you'll see just how annoying he can be."

"Go and check for signs of any further demon activity," Kurama said. "If you find anything, come back here immediately and you and I will tackle it together."

"Yes, Sir!" Kaisei sarcastically replied, before jogging off.

Kurama sighed and then knelt down at Akira's side. He tentatively touched two fingers to the boy's neck as the thought occurred to him that Kaisei had probably just rolled him over with his foot and not even bothered to check if he was even still alive after what had just happened to him. When he felt a steady pulse Kurama relaxed a little and gathered the little emiko up in his arms, carrying him over to where Kuwabara was still lying on the ground.

"Is she okay?" Kuwabara asked as Kurama carefully laid Akira down on the ground at his side.

"He'll be fine," Kurama assured him. "He's just unconscious. When we get back, perhaps Yukina could lend her healing abilities to that wound he has around his neck, and that, with some rest, should see him back on his feet in no time."

"Yeah, Akira's a fast healer," Kuwabara said with a smile.

"Just like his father," Kurama said, smiling back at Kuwabara.

Kuwabara's smile vanished and he looked oddly perturbed by Kurama's reply.

"Don't worry, your leg will be fine," Kurama assured him, assuming that was the cause for his reaction. "I know it's a deep wound and you've lost a lot of tissue, but I prepared for injuries such as this months before Koenma gathered us together. I have the ingredients to make the same solution used in Mukuro's healing tanks, and soaking your leg in it will regenerate the missing muscle and tissue. As long as you haven't lost any bone matter, you should be fine. We should really wrap the wound though, to minimise your blood loss."

"Maybe you should go check for survivors first," Kuwabara suggested as Kurama took off his jacket and began tearing it apart.

"I think our best strategy is to make sure we remove all demon presences from here and then we should leave to a safe distance and then call the authorities of this world to deal with this," Kurama replied, kneeling down by Kuwabara's injured leg. "They can clean up and recover the wounded faster than we can, and if we can remove all traces of the flayer, they can perhaps pass it off as a random, freak terrorist attack. I'd rather the news report this is a standard human problem than they find us and the flayer here and start reporting that there are monsters in the living world. The longer we can keep the Dark Age a secret from the humans, the better."

"I guess," Kuwabara replied.

Kurama glanced over at Kuwabara, but found that his eyes were on Akira: which was probably only logical, as he was sure to be concerned about his son's welfare.

* * *

The interior of Yomi's temple was far, far too quiet. Hiei stopped to lean against a pillar, the sight of Chu resting an arm around Yusuke's shoulder to support himself as he had apparently suffered injury to his midsection that was making it difficult for him to remain upright, reminding Hiei that he was not the only one to be worse for wear after the last encounter. Behind them, the group of Yomi's men they had battled lay dead or dying, but ahead of them the temple was quiet and still, despite looking dishevelled from the damage caused. There was no sign of life within the temple – not even a hint of energy, and not even a trace of Jin or Suzuka. Whilst the lack of any more mindless soldiers was a good thing, the lack of Yomi and the other two members of their team was not a good sign.

"Hey Hiei, maybe you should go ahead and check it out in there," Yusuke suggested.

"I don't think we should split the group any further," Touya warned.

"So you think we should just wait here for Jin and Suzuka?" Yusuke asked him.

"No, I think we should move on, as a unit," Touya replied.

"Agreed," Hiei said, stabbing his sword into one of the floor panels and using it to push himself back up to his feet.

Hiei ignored the way Yusuke eyed him over – it was not like he or Touya looked much better either – and he walked on, albeit it at a slow pace. Touya fell into step beside him and Yusuke supported Chu along behind them. The temple was so still and silent that the sound of their footsteps – which would otherwise have been almost silent – sounded awkwardly heavy, and every time one of them stepped on a piece of broken glass, the squeaking crackle it made was almost painful on the ears. The rolling movement of their four shadows on the walls either side of them occasionally switched rhythm as they pass by holes high in the walls that let in light from an alternate angle, and every time their shadows jumped or roamed over the walls from another direction, all four tensed. The creeping feeling that they were walking into a trap was growing on Hiei with every empty room they passed and every second that ticked by without any sign of Jin or Suzuka returning to meet them. The two had been gone long enough to have snuck into any part of the temple and then worked their way back to the entrance, especially as there appeared to be nothing stopping them from doing so.

The group turned a corner in the hall and started down a slightly darker length of hallway that looked little different from the one they had just left, other than one of the doors leading off of it being closed. Touya held up a hand to indicate to the others to stop and he turned to them.

"Yusuke and Chu, wait here," he said softly. "Hiei and I will investigate."

He pointed to the closed door and the others nodded. Hiei followed Touya, edging silently towards the open door. Hiei drew out his sword as quietly as he could and positioned himself on one side of the sliding door, at the opening, and Touya moved to the other side, reaching his arm across the door and pressing his fingers into the ridge. He gave a hand signal to Hiei to move in as soon as he had opened the door and Hiei nodded his understanding, tensing and readying himself to dart through the doorway.

Hiei almost fell over as he barely managed to stop himself from charging and Touya stumbled back a step as, upon whipping open the door, the dead weight of a limp body fell out into the hallway. Touya paused to stare down at the fallen body at his feet but, as soon as the doorway was clear, Hiei leapt over the twisted legs still splayed in the doorway and into the room beyond.

"That better not be who I think it is," Hiei heard Yusuke calling out to Touya.

"I'm afraid so," Touya replied.

Hiei heard Touya moving about as though he was checking for signs of life in Suzuka's obviously dead body. As much as he wanted to tell Touya to not bother wasting his time, Hiei could not make himself move or speak. He was frozen, on the spot, just inside the storage cupboard Suzuka's body had been stuffed into, facing the back wall, which was barely a few feet from the door itself. When he heard Yusuke and Chu shuffling over to join Touya, Hiei finally snapped back to his senses and turned around, stepping back out into the hall. As Yusuke and Chu fretted over Suzuka, Touya looked up at Hiei expectantly.

"It's mocking us," Hiei told him.

Yusuke looked up at Hiei, his expression somewhere between irritation and curiosity, but his eyes did not linger long on Hiei as he apparently noticed the message that had been left for them on the back wall of the cupboard.

"It's doing exactly what we should never have let it do to us," Hiei explained. "It's picking us off one-by-one."

Yusuke slowly stood up and walked around Hiei, moving into the cupboard. Hiei turned around, seeing then that the lettering, which had already been a little warped, had become almost illegible. The message had been very sloppily written in blood, as though someone had literally dunked their entire hand into a vat of fresh blood and the slapped it against the wall to scrawl out each letter, and the blood had been continually running down the walls, warping the individual letters. But, as Hiei looked over Yusuke's shoulder, despite how sloppy and deformed the lettering of the message was, it could still be read.

It still clearly said "Chu will be next".

* * *

**Next Chapter:** When Akira wakes up, he flips out – Kaisei insists its because of the moon, but Kurama has some other ideas – the DW team theorise about what happened to Suzuka and where Jin has disappeared to, Yusuke tries to think about what might lie ahead for everyone and how they might manage to stop the Dark Age progressing to the next stage, things go wild in the LW as Kurama, Fubuki & Akira set out to investigate another incident, and Botan is under investigation by the SDF. **Chapter 15 – Beloved Son**

**A/N:** Thank you again for all the reviews and support from everyone who is reading. I'm surprised people are sticking with the story, especially because the payoff is so slow. I'm hoping it will all be worth it though when this story works through its various stages and everything comes together.


	15. Beloved Son

**Chapter 15 – Beloved Son**

Kurama waited patiently as Kaisei manoeuvred Kuwabara into the back seat of his car. Kurama was surprised that Kuwabara had remained conscious – though he was looking very pale – and he was amazed that he was still lucid. When he had been wrapping up Kuwabara's leg, Kurama had discovered that the damage was worse than he had first thought, and Kuwabara's recovery time would not be as rapid as he had hoped.

"Lucky there was only one of those bastards, right?" Kaisei said as he lifted Kuwabara's injured leg carefully up onto the seat.

"Yeah," Kuwabara said. "But we showed him."

"Sure we did," Kaisei replied.

He backed out of the car and Kurama distinctly saw Kuwabara look alarmed, his head whipping about. Kaisei had positioned him sitting upright at one corner of the backseat, with his injured leg stretched out across the length of the backseat.

"Uh, guys?" Kuwabara asked. "Where are the rest of you gonna sit?"

"It's no problem," Kurama assured him. "Kaisei, are you alright to drive?"

Kaisei held up Kuwabara's car key and nodded, before closing the back door on Kuwabara and moving around to get into the driver's seat. Kurama moved over to the already open front passenger door, carefully easing himself into the seat and manoeuvring Akira's limp form into his lap.

"Um, Kurama?"

Kurama looked over his shoulder as Kuwabara tried to leaned over towards him.

"You can put Akira back here with me," he said.

"You need to keep your leg elevated and to keep weight off of it," Kurama advised him. "Akira will be fine here with me."

Kuwabara looked like he wanted to argue the issue and so Kurama pressed on.

"Trust me," he said. "I can hold him until we get home."

Kuwabara's top lip twitched as though he still wanted to argue the matter, but he did sit back, and so Kurama turned to face forwards as Kaisei started up the car.

"Do you have your phone with you, Kuwabara?" Kurama asked as they started to drive away.

"Yeah," Kuwabara muttered.

"Then now would be a good time to call the emergency services here to take care of the casualties," Kurama advised him.

As Kuwabara set about doing as Kurama had asked, Kurama was pleased to see Kaisei turning out of the mall car park in the opposite direction to the one they had arrived from. They had been careful to destroy any CCTV cameras, though Kurama doubted the police would come after them, as they would likely shortly be overcome by similar attacks in the coming days. He was mostly pleased to see Kaisei taking a different route back because in doing so he was avoiding going back through the city itself and avoiding them having to sit queued at traffic lights in the middle of the day with one bloodied and bandaged body in the back of the car and an unconscious one in the front. After Kuwabara had reported the incident – with a nice lie about having driven past the shopping mall and noticed the chaos – the car fell into silence, and remained that way for some time as they moved further and further out of the city and up a quiet mountain road, lined on either side with trees. As they climbed the rarely used road, the edges became overgrown and forced Kaisei to move into the middle of the road and slow down, and the trees began to reach across the gap towards each other, making the road increasingly dark as they blocked out the sunlight.

Just as Kaisei was forced to turn on the headlights in order to clearly see the road ahead, Kurama felt a slight movement against his arm, and he looked down to see that Akira was starting to stir. He flinched slightly and tried to turn over, his knees colliding with Kurama's arm and his head falling against Kurama's chest. He gripped a handful of Kurama's coat and pulled before opening his eyes and blinking a few times. He then lifted his head slightly, staring cross-eyed at Kurama's shoulder, as though he could not really see anything yet.

"Try to relax," Kurama advised him.

His head snapped up and he fixed suddenly wide and focused eyes onto Kurama, inhaling sharply through his nostrils as his eyes found Kurama's face.

"It's fine," Kurama told him. "We finished the flayer and we're on our way back to the safe house. You can relax."

Akira opened out his hand, releasing Kurama's coat, before looking about himself in a pale, sweaty panic.

"Kuwabara's in the back seat," Kaisei said.

Akira stared at Kaisei for a moment before looking up at Kurama again.

"He'll be fine," Kurama assured him. "As will you."

"Let me go."

Kurama frowned slightly as he noticed that Akira's voice had gained that same unusual tone it had taken back in Aokigahara when he had panicked over finding the dead body.

"We'll be back soon," Kurama told him. "Another twenty minutes or so."

"Twenty minutes?" Kaisei echoed. "That's optimistic. If this road gets any worse, it's gonna take another hour to get back."

"Let go of me, right now!" Akira cried, glaring up at Kurama.

"I'm not touching you," Kurama pointed out, holding up his hands to indicate that Akira was really only sitting on him.

"Stop the car," Akira growled.

"No way kid," Kaisei said. "Just sit down and shut-up."

"Stop the car and let Akira come sit back here with me," Kuwabara said.

"That's not advisable," Kurama said.

"Stop the car!" Akira insisted.

"You need to calm down," Kurama said to him.

When he glared at Kurama one last time and then lunged at the steering wheel in an attempt to literally force the car off the road, Kurama was forced to grab his arms around Akira and haul him back down.

"Pull over," he said to Kaisei.

Kaisei did as he asked, and before the car had even stopped, Akira had managed to open the door and wriggle out of Kurama's arms, falling awkwardly out of the car and rolling over himself. Kaisei stopped abruptly and turned to Kurama, arching his eyebrows.

"This is what I was talking about," he said quietly. "The kid is out of control."

"Stay here," Kurama said to him.

"I'm not going after the ungrateful little brat," Kaisei grumbled.

"You too, Kuwabara," Kurama said over his shoulder. "Wait here."

"You can let Akira sit back here with me," Kuwabara said as Kurama climbed out of the car.

Kurama ignored him, starting towards Akira, who hurriedly scrambled to his feet and backed away. Kurama closed the gap between them quickly with long strides, but stopped when Akira urgently put out one hand to halt him.

"You need to get back in the car," Kurama told him calmly.

Akira shook his head.

"I'll just walk," he said.

"It's unadvisable for us to separate," Kurama replied. "And you may not have the strength to make the journey back. You should conserve your energy and focus on healing your wounds."

"I'm not wounded," Akira lied. "And I'm not getting back in there with you. That's just weird."

Kurama suspected that there was another, more complex reason why Akira was so suspicious of anyone he was not close to touching him, but he did not have time to argue it then and there.

"I'll just walk back," Akira said again.

"Do you even know your way back from here?" Kurama asked.

Akira faltered slightly but did not reply.

"Alright, let's compromise," Kurama conceded.

He turned to the car and sat back into the front passenger seat, sliding it forwards as far as it would go before opening the rear door and pointing at the rear footwell beside Kuwabara.

"Sit down there," he offered.

Akira started towards the car, but hesitated again as he drew level with Kurama, looking up at him anxiously.

"C'mon Akira, it's fine," Kuwabara called out to him.

Akira looked less than convinced, but clambered into the tiny space behind the front passenger seat, sitting down with his legs bunched up. Kuwabara ruffled his hair and muttered something to him as Kurama shut the door and, as he squeezed back into the restricted space left in the front passenger seat, Kurama saw Kaisei roll his eyes.

"Let's go," Kurama said as he shut the door.

"Maybe we should lock the kid up until the moon starts to show again," Kaisei grumbled as he pulled away again.

Kurama still found Kaisei's references to Akira's behaviour and the cycles of the moon to be entirely misplaced, but he decided not to dismiss them just yet, as perhaps a little further investigation might go some way to explaining the pattern he had observed.

* * *

"We have to make a decision."

Yusuke glared up at Hiei, who was limping about in an awkward pacing session back and forth across the width of the hallway.

"Suzuka's dead, Hiei," Yusuke reminded him.

"Yes, and we still don't know where Jin is," Touya added.

"We gotta stick together from now on," Chu said.

"Hey don't worry about that dumb message," Yusuke assured him. "This bastard isn't getting away with his stupid games any more."

"We gotta find Jin," Chu replied.

"I fear Jin may not be any better off than Suzuka," Touya solemnly announced.

"Don't say that!" Yusuke snapped. "You don't know that! Maybe Jin is with Yomi, or hiding somewhere!"

"The curious thing is, Suzuka appears to have been killed," Touya said.

Yusuke paused, wondering if he had even heard the ice demon correctly.

"I mean he did not take his own life," Touya continued, as he appeared to notice Yusuke's confusion. "And nor can we see evidence of a conflict: it's unlikely any one of Yomi's men could have bested Suzuka in a fight and killed him as brutally as this. It would have taken at least two of the men, controlled by the Dark Force, to overwhelm him like this, but there is no trace of blood or conflict out here in the hallway. It's as though he was lured into the cupboard and killed in there, very swiftly, by someone who was an expert at killing in dark and confined spaces."

"Right…" Yusuke said slowly. "How does knowing that that help us find out where the Dark Force is hiding?"

"Hn."

Yusuke looked up at Hiei, who had finally stopped his stumbled pacing, which was a relief for Yusuke, but he was now wearing an inappropriately smug look on his face that was even worse to look at than watching him pace about with a limp had been.

"It appears we have an enemy amongst our own ranks," he said.

"What the hell are you talking about, Hiei?" Yusuke demanded.

"Clean your ears out and think about what you hear, Yusuke," Hiei sarcastically replied. "It looks as though Suzuka was lured into the cupboard – which is something none of us would allow to happen to us unless we fully trusted the person luring us – and, once inside the dark, confined cupboard, Suzuka was quickly killed by someone who was not only strong enough to swiftly execute a demon of his class, but also someone who was an expert at killing in dark and confined spaces. Which of us do you think has such a skill set, Yusuke?"

"You?" Yusuke growled.

"He's implying that Jin killed Suzuka," Touya said.

"I'm gonna pretend you didn't just say that," Yusuke said, turning his glare to Touya.

"The evidence we see before us would seem to implicate Jin," Touya replied. "And, as Jin's longest standing ally present, it's a difficult conclusion for me to accept, and yet it does seem the most likely explanation."

"Nah, that doesn't make sense," Chu said. "How and when did the Dark Force manage to take a guy like Jin?"

"Probably right around the time we were all distracted by Risho's little "hand in the rock" trick," Hiei offered.

"Hiei, don't be an ass about this," Yusuke warned him.

"He may have a point," Touya said.

"What?" Yusuke echoed, turning wide eyes of disbelief to Touya.

"There's no way of knowing when it might have happened," Touya quickly added. "But the point is that it could have happened as far back as Hiei just suggested and we would never know, just like how we didn't know with Risho."

"I knew with Risho," Yusuke asserted. "I knew right from the start that something wasn't right about him."

"Only because you didn't like him and you were looking for a reason to distrust him after he called out one of your friends," Hiei said. "And now you have the opposite problem: you can't see what's right in front of you because you don't want to see one of your friends as our next enemy,"

"Not Jin!" Yusuke snapped. "Anybody else but him! He's too laid back and too sure of himself to let some ancient, crabby-ass shadow monster take his soul!"

"That's not quite how it works–"

"Shut-up, Hiei! Damn, you almost sound like you're enjoying this!"

"Why the hell would I be enjoying this?"

"I don't know Hiei, but from where I'm sitting, it kinda looks like you are!"

"And from where I'm standing, you look like the sort of idiot who could end up being the last man standing to oppose this enemy, and when that day comes, you'll be scratching your head wondering how it managed to manipulate and kill everyone else around you because you're too short-sighted to see what's really going on here!"

"I'm not an idiot, Hiei!"

"You're acting like one! Burying your head in denial and insisting someone is safe from the enemy just because he's your friend or because he seems too "cool" to become someone else's puppet is exactly the sort of naivety an enemy like the Dark Force preys upon!"

"Stop arguing, you two!"

Yusuke turned to Chu, who was glaring up at Hiei.

"Chu's right," Touya agreed. "Arguing between ourselves will only further empower the enemy."

"I still don't agree that Jin's turned on us," Yusuke insisted.

"But that is a possibility we ought to prepare ourselves for," Touya said. "We've been very fortunate up until now in that we have not been forced to fight against someone we are close to, but that may be about to change. We all knew, from the very beginning, that this day would come."

"Might come," Yusuke grumbled. "You don't know that Jin did this."

"No, we don't know for sure, but we should proceed with caution," Touya advised. "When we find him, we can't just allow him to rejoin us without first carefully considering the situation."

"What are you suggesting?" Yusuke asked.

"Merely that we be cautious," Touya replied.

Yusuke was less than convinced. Reading between the lines, he was almost certain that Touya was suggesting they ought to kill Jin when they found him just in case he was another puppet of the Dark Force. Maybe Touya was working for the enemy, Yusuke thought darkly. He had been far too indifferent about all the deaths and complications they had faced and he had been far too quick to blame Jin for Suzuka's death. Maybe Touya was the enemy, working on the inside to tear them all apart.

"What about Suzuka?" Chu asked, breaking an otherwise awkwardly tense silence.

"We should do something for him," Yusuke agreed.

"We don't have time," Hiei said. "We're already wasting time sitting around here talking about it."

"Hey Hiei, if you're so eager to run on ahead, then maybe you should go do that," Yusuke answered him.

"No Yusuke," Touya said. "No more splitting the team."

"Hiei was supposed to go ahead with Jin in the first place," Yusuke pointed out.

Touya's face changed then and he moved narrowed blue eyes to Hiei.

"Do you know what this means?" he asked.

"Hn, I know what you think it means," Hiei answered. "You think it means the Dark Force is controlling Jin and it was trying to take me out next."

"Might the Dark Force have a reason to want to target you, Hiei?" Touya asked.

Yusuke, despite still being quite irked with Hiei, straightened up defensively at Touya's last remark.

"What are you saying now?" he asked.

"We never addressed the issue that Risho raised," Touya told Yusuke. "Risho may have been controlled by the Dark Force when he spoke, but the fact remains that he spoke the truth: why does Hiei continue to patrol High Road if he has been ordered not to?"

"Hn, you saw the place yourself," Hiei casually replied. "It's a wreck, but it's also a honeypot for sneaky cretins like dragon fish to slip into the living world undetected. My duty was to stop traffic through the portals in either direction – and the most efficient way to achieve that was to continue to patrol the original route, along High Road. Left unattended, not only would the scum of Demon World passed through to the living world, but humans stumbling into Demon World would have landed right in that massive pit the Dark Force was contained within."

"Noble reasoning," Touya replied. "But I'm not convinced that was the motive for your actions."

"Come on mates, we can't be arguin' like this," Chu interrupted. "We can't be so suspicious of each other and we can't go sayin' Jin has switched sides before we've even found him."

"Yeah, Chu's right you guys," Yusuke agreed. "We need to do what we can for Suzuka, then we need to figure out a way to find Jin. Once we've found Jin, we can argue about what we want to do next, but until then, let's do the right thing."

Hiei turned away and Yusuke reactively grabbed one of his ankles, ignoring the way Hiei glared back over his shoulder at him.

"The right thing isn't running further into this place," Yusuke told him. "Come on Hiei, even an idiot like me knows this could be a trap. Let's help Suzuka out and then figure out a plan from there."

Hiei made a grunting noise but did at least slouch a little as though he intended to comply, and so Yusuke let go of his ankle. He turned back to Suzuka, finding himself oddly indifferent about the sight of another of his friends lying dead at his feet. He was not sure if he was just getting accustomed to what was happening – Rinku, Shishiwakamaru and Suzuka had all died within such a short space of time – or if the Dark Force was somehow changing the very air in Demon World, and just by being there and breathing it in, he was somehow changing himself. He no longer felt the same burning desire to do everything in his power to try to save his fallen friend, no longer had to turn away just to stop himself from donating his life energy in the hope of reviving the Dark Force's latest victim. His thoughts instead were primarily concerned with Jin's whereabouts and exactly what had become of Enki: Yusuke was starting to think that if it transpired that Jin was being controlled by the Dark Force and had turned into the same monster Risho had been and likewise Enki was the primary home of the Dark Force's power, then maybe it was too late.

Despite joking about doing otherwise, Yusuke had been listening carefully to everything Koenma had said about the previous Dark Ages, and how they always followed a pattern. From what information he had, as he sat on the floor of Yomi's desecrated temple home with what was left of his team, Yusuke had come to the reluctant conclusion that Stage One was already over: the Dark Force had already risen up and caused absolute chaos in Demon World, and recruited far too many as its puppets. And, as much as he was loathed to even consider it, Stage Two was already well under way: Demon World was falling. If Enki really was aligned with the enemy – obviously by force, Yusuke thought bitterly, as he would never have willingly aligned himself with something as warped as the Dark Force – and as the Dark Force seemed to be targeting the most powerful and influential demons like Yomi, control of Demon World was already in the enemy's hands.

And seeing three of his friends – and fellow S-class demon warriors – killed so easily was doing little to ease Yusuke's concerns. He believed that no enemy was invincible, and the Dark Force was definitely no different: Koenma had also said that it had been defeated many times, and most recently by Mukuro and Raizen, and that even though it often took over Demon World, it rarely got much further beyond that point.

However, Yusuke also remembered that Koenma had implied that just how powerful the Dark Force got to be depended on how many S-class and A-class demons there were in Demon World, and that, thanks to Yusuke's Demon World Tournament, there was a record high number of the top two tiers of demons available for the enemy to exploit. That, he concluded, meant that the enemy he faced this time around would be much stronger than the enemy Mukuro and Raizen were able to overcome, and that meant that he would need to be stronger than Mukuro and Raizen in order to win the fight. And, with that thought in mind, Yusuke concluded that the only option left was to find Jin and then recruit Yomi, Shura, Mukuro and her top men and get Kurama to Demon World: because only then would his team stand any chance of stopping the Dark Age from progressing into Stage Three.

* * *

Kaisei cursed openly as he parked outside of Genkai's temple. At first Kurama was not sure why: but when he noticed Fubuki waiting for them on the porch with another ferry girl, he thought he understood.

"Well, you did say you wanted more action," Kurama said to him.

"It's about my turn to take over guard duty," Kaisei answered him as he took the key out of the ignition and spun it around his finger. "I'm pissed off because I'm gonna have to miss this one."

Kurama paused as he considered the condition of their two team-mates in the backseat.

"I guess it will just be Fubuki and me attending this one," he concluded.

He looked out the window at his side and held up a hand to Fubuki, who was waving at him.

"I can come with you too, I'm not on guard duty."

Kurama was glad that Akira did not have line of sight of him as his face twisted.

"You need to rest," Kurama advised him. "You're not fit for any more excitement today."

"Pfft, that's what you think."

Kurama started to try to turn in his seat, but Akira had managed to crawl out of the car already and was attempting to haul Kuwabara out with him. Kurama looked over at Kaisei, who shrugged.

"Still a new moon, I guess," he whispered, before leaping out of the car and jogging around to take Kuwabara from Akira.

Kurama sighed and then stepped out himself as Yukina joined them by the car, worrying over Kuwabara and offering Kaisei her help to carry him indoors. Kaisei politely refused her offer, but she tailed him back indoors regardless, reaching for Kuwabara the whole way. As Fubuki and the ferry girl joined them, Akira stood up straight, despite looking pale and sweaty.

"Got another one for you, foxy," Fubuki said to Kurama.

"The last one didn't go so smoothly," Kurama told her.

"No kidding," she commented, nodding after Kuwabara.

"He's out and so is Akira," Kurama explained. "And it's time for Kaisei to start his shift on guard, so it looks like it will just be you and me. What are we up against?"

Fubuki nodded at the ferry girl at her side, who smiled politely.

"Nothing too complicated, I hope," she began. "I was on my way to–"

"I can come with you."

Kurama, Fubuki and the ferry girl all turned to Akira.

"I'm fine," he insisted.

"We'll discuss that later," Kurama said to him, before turning back to the ferry girl. "My apologies, you were saying?"

The ferry girl hesitated, her eyes lingering on Akira before she slowly seemed to realise that Kurama was waiting for her to continue.

"Um, yes, sorry," she recovered. "I was on my way to the hospital when I noticed a house on fire. I know that probably sounds insignificant, but even though there were firefighters trying to calm the blaze, something kept reigniting the flames. I felt something there, not something very powerful, but it was something malicious."

"That sounds like a fire goblin," Kurama concluded. "They are low-level pests, but with their control of fire, they are capable of causing devastation in this world."

"Then I should definitely come with you."

Kurama turned to Akira, hoping that a stern look would deter him: but he found Akira returning his look with one of stubborn determination.

"It's okay Akira, we can take care of this," Fubuki said to him. "You should stay here and get some rest and look after Kuwabara for us, right?"

Akira softened slightly at he looked at Fubuki, but there was still no sign of acquiescence in his countenance.

"We won't be long," Fubuki added.

"Then you won't mind me coming with you," Akira replied.

Fubuki turned to Kurama for support.

"Alright, the three of us will go," he said. "But Akira you should know that this will delay your recovery from your earlier injuries and it will surely exhaust you to the point of uselessness. Despite that, I still expect you to take your turn watching guard when it's time for you to do so and I still expect you to train with me for an hour afterwards. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand," Akira tightly replied.

Kurama was almost certain he would end up carrying Akira away from the next battle scene, which would probably lead to a repeat of his panicked performance in the car earlier, but he hoped that the experience might humble Akira into being less stubborn and help him understand that he had his limitations.

"Fubuki, could you get the car key from your brother, please?" Kurama said.

Fubuki nodded and ran off.

"Thank you, can you let Koenma know we are attending to this matter?" Kurama said to the ferry girl.

"Certainly!" she cheerfully replied as she summoned her oar.

As the ferry girl took off, Kurama turned to Akira to tell him to get back into the car: but he stopped when he noticed the way Akira was watching the ferry girl leave. He did not take his eyes off of her until she was completely out of sight, at which point he turned back to Kurama, his expression softened somewhat. The two stood looking at each other in silence for several seconds, the moment only ending when Fubuki returned to them.

"What are you waiting for, boys?" she asked. "I call shot-gun."

She threw the car key at Kurama, who caught it easily, earning himself a smile from Fubuki. She hopped into the front passenger seat and Akira quietly moved into the back of the car.

"I trust things were uneventful in our absence?" Kurama asked Fubuki as he drove away.

"Things were pretty boring," Fubuki replied.

"We need to plan to move the remaining nominated people into the safe house," Kurama reminded her.

"Yeah, that should be fun trying to convince my mom," Fubuki said with a smile.

"At least your mother could handle a pest like a fire goblin, should one come her way," Kurama pointed out.

"Is it time to move everyone into the safe house?"

Kurama glanced at Akira's reflection in the rearview mirror – he still looked pale and pathetic, looking like a smaller featured, lilac-haired version of Hiei after he had used the Dragon of the Darkness Flame – but nevertheless, the look on his face was one of genuine interest.

"I would say so, yes," Kurama replied.

In the back of his mind he was still aware that Hiei had told him the Demon World team had already suffered two casualties, and before they had lost two fighters in such a short space of time, the situation there was surely quite dire, which meant that the Dark Age was quite likely to reach Stage Three before they could hope to slow it down, far less put an end to it. With that bleak thought in mind, Kurama was glad that their journey was not a long one, as they shortly reached the burning house, located in a slightly remote location beyond the city limits. It was a large house clearly belonging to quite a wealthy family, and, as they drew closer, they could see that the fire brigade were in attendance and doing all they could, and the huddled group of people by the top of the access road told Kurama that the residents of the house had all been successfully evacuated. Not wishing to draw too much unwanted attention, Kurama parked at the side of the road and indicated for Fubuki and Akira to walk with him the rest of the way, using the many giant topiaries in the gardens to reach the house itself undetected.

"We find the fire goblin, and then we leave," Kurama whispered to the others as they reached the last sculpted shrub.

"There's only one?" Fubuki asked, frowning up at the large house as a roof beam collapsed under the intensity of the flames.

"Yes, and as soon as we've eradicated it, we go," Kurama replied.

"We're not gonna help put out the fire?" Fubuki asked.

"No," Kurama replied. "There are professionals here to deal with the fire and they will quickly get it under control once we remove the fire goblin."

"What about the people who live here?" Akira asked.

"They're all safe," Kurama replied. "Didn't you see them all back there?"

"How do you know that's all of them?" Fubuki asked.

"They didn't look panicked as though they were missing anyone," Kurama said.

"Maybe they've resigned themselves to their loss because they were forced to stay away," Akira suggested.

"That's right," Fubuki agreed. "The firefighters probably forced them to stay down there so they're out of the way and to stop them trying to get back in to rescue anyone left behind."

Kurama blinked.

"I can't believe we're even having this discussion."

Kurama turned to Akira, who had spoken in unison with him.

"So the plan is: get the fire goblin, then check for survivors, right?" Fubuki asked.

As Kurama replied no, Akira replied yes, and before Kurama could repeat his instruction, both of his team-mates had taken off.

The lack of control both he and Kuwabara had over the three new recruits was starting to irritate Kurama – a sentiment he only felt more keenly when he saw Akira dive through a blown out window on the top floor and Fubuki charge through the back door of the burning house.

* * *

Botan tried to peer across the desk at what Oho was writing, but when the SDF soldier noticed her actions she quickly hooked an arm over the page, hurriedly finished her work and then turned the piece of paper she had been writing on over to hide her words from Botan's view.

"Okay Botan," Oho said. "Captain Ootake has asked me to carry out a little investigation."

Botan knew that she ought to be concerned that the SDF were investigating something and that she was the first person they had sought to interview, but she was more desirous to know what Oho had already written down and she was distracted by the striking physical resemblance Oho bore to Shizuru.

"We're trying to establish why the Dark Age came early," Oho explained. "Because if we can figure that out, we can figure out what the Dark Force is looking for and how to stop it getting what it's looking for."

"That makes sense," Botan said.

"Our initial thoughts are that this is what the Dark Force is looking for."

Oho placed a piece of paper on the desk and slid it towards Botan, who glanced at it briefly before whipping her head back up.

"I just wondered what your thoughts on this were?" Oho asked.

"I think you're wrong," Botan quietly replied.

In her mind, she was trying to forget what she had seen on the piece of paper, trying to still her suddenly racing heart, trying to sit still despite the urge to get up and run from the room.

"Maybe we should talk about a different aspect of this matter for now," Oho suggested.

"Yes let's," Botan agreed.

She made to take the piece of paper from Oho, but the soldier effortlessly whipped it out of her reach, stowing it into a folder full of papers Botan was suddenly desperate to see.

"The Dark Age is progressing rather quickly this time around, and we believe it's because of the abnormally high number of A-class and even S-class demons there currently are in Demon World," Oho continued. "And we believe the reason why there are so many strong demons is that they have all been working harder than usual to build their strength thanks to the Demon World Tournament."

"So now you're blaming Yusuke for this?" Botan asked.

"No, I just want to talk to you about the Demon World Tournament," Oho replied. "I've never been to one, but I know Koenma has never missed one, and you and George always accompany him there. It's a little difficult for me to question King Enma's son and the ogre is too skittish to speak sense, so I was hoping you could enlighten me on a few matters."

Botan was vaguely suspicious that she was being set up, but she pretended not to notice and forced a smile.

"Certainly," she offered. "What would you like to know?"

"First of all, is it true that you attended the entirety of the very first Demon World Tournament, instigated by Yusuke Urameshi?"

Oho was holding a pen over a blank piece of paper, her face on the page, apparently ready to write down Botan's answer. Under such circumstances, Botan accepted that she did not have long to consider how she should reply, and whether she chose to be honest or to lie could prove quite decisive in not only the remainder of her interview with Oho, but also in any future dealings she had with the SDF and Spirit World as a whole.

"I did attend the first Demon World Tournament," she carefully replied.

"And you were in the audience through to the final round?" Oho asked.

"Even Lord Koenma himself was not in the audience through to the final round," Botan pointed out.

Oho scribbled something down, but again used her free arm to keep her writings infuriatingly out of Botan's line of sight.

"Okay, so you didn't witness the entirety of the first Demon World Tournament?" Oho asked.

"No I didn't," Botan quietly replied.

"So you didn't see the battle between the finalists? You have no idea what the fight between the two finalists looked like?" Oho asked.

Botan relaxed a little as Oho's questioning began to veer away from the direction she had feared they were leading her.

"No, I didn't," she said. "Though I'm sure it was a spectacular display."

"Did you witness the final round of any of the subsequent tournaments?" Oho asked.

"No," Botan replied.

"Why is that?"

"The same reason Lord Koenma didn't witness the final round of any of the subsequent tournaments, I suppose: after those I had gone to support lost, I saw no reason to stay in Demon World for the remainder of the tournament."

"So you only attended to support specific competitors in the tournament?"

Botan began feeling suspicious about where the conversation was leading again.

"Well, yes," she said.

"Like Yusuke Urameshi?" Oho asked.

The SDF officer had her head down and her pen was poised over the page again, her words still infuriatingly hidden from Botan's view.

"Yes," Botan answered.

"And Hiei?"

Botan gulped and twitched.

"Yes."

Oho began writing frantically.

"And Kurama," Botan pointed out.

"When was the last time you saw Hiei?"

Botan opened her mouth to give what she thought was an honest answer before it occurred to her that the answer to the question was not really straightforward, as she had recently seen Hiei's face during a conversation they had shared via their communication mirrors.

"Let me put that another way," Oho tried when Botan did not answer her. "Did you see much of Hiei during your stays in Demon World when you were attending the last five Demon World Tournaments?"

Botan froze. She suddenly found herself in a very awkward position: outside of Koenma, nobody in Spirit World knew that she had not actually attended all five of the previous Demon World Tournaments. She had still been absent from Spirit World for the duration of the tournaments, but, in reality, she had only attended the first and second Demon World Tournaments – and she had barely attended any of the second tournament matches. When she was permitted time off to attend the third and fourth tournaments, she had taken extended vacations in the living world under the pretence of attending the Demon World Tournament with Koenma and George.

During the fifth Demon World Tournament, she had remained in Spirit World – and that was something even Oho ought to know, Botan thought bitterly.

"I don't see that it's any of your business how and when I spend time with my friends," she eventually answered. "And when I did, or didn't, see any of my friends certainly has no impact on this terrible situation we are all now in."

"Are you saying you don't believe your visits to Demon World to see your "friends" have anything to do with "this terrible situation we are all now in"?" Oho asked, narrowing her eyes in a way that made her look like Shizuru's evil twin and made Botan want to cry.

"I know what you're referring to," Botan said, make a conscious effort to hold her emotions in check. "You're talking about my visit to Demon World four years ago, on the fifteenth of June, when I went to see Hiei."

"I think we all know that was a significant factor in the situation we are now in," Oho replied. "So much so that it doesn't even require investigation: it's fact. I was actually referring to your visits to Demon World during the very first Demon World Tournament, and some of your erratic, unsanctioned visits to Demon World shortly thereafter."

Botan bunched her fists around the fabric of her kimono at her thighs as she fought back her anger.

"Does Lord Koenma know you're asking me about this again?" she asked.

"This matter is out of Koenma's hands," Oho replied. "He could have dealt with it at the time, but he chose not to, so now King Enma has put the matter back into the hands of the SDF."

"Back into the hands of the…?"

Botan suddenly felt numb, as though her soul had left the room.

"This is really only a formality," Oho said. "Some of my colleagues think that you should be convicted for your part in all of this, but the others – myself included – think that you were incapable of making the right decisions due to your naivety and general insensibility."

Botan stood abruptly.

"This interview is over," she said.

"No it's not," Oho said.

"Yes it is!" Botan snapped.

She ran from the room before Oho could even attempt to stop her, hurriedly recovering her communication mirror as she went. Without breaking stride, she slipped open the communicator and waited impatiently for an answer to her call.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** After blatantly ignoring orders, Kurama then has to deal with Fubuki making light of the mission at the burning house and Akira fleeing with Botan. Thinking that Hiei has changed, Yusuke remembers back to the last time Hiei was his old (good) self, and he recalls it was some time around the beginning of the first DWT, right around the time Yusuke played a little practical joke on Hiei and Botan. Back in the present day, Keiko and Botan have a heart to heart that is cut short. **Chapter 16 – Out of the Fire**


	16. Out of the Fire

**Chapter 16 – Out of the Fire**

Leaping out of the top floor window of a three-storey house, the curtains flapping at either side of her exit and with her arms firmly wrapped around a ball of beige fur and pink chiffon, Fubuki looked like the hero of an action movie; and, judging by the grin on her face as she landed on her toes with the grace of a true acrobat, she thought she actually was an action hero. Kurama watched as she strode past the perplexed firefighters and on towards the family group huddled by the end of the garden, whereupon she opened out her arms and passed a Pomeranian in a pink tutu to a frantic little girl. The girls' parents began showering Fubuki with praise and gratitude, which she was less than humble about accepting. Kurama decided to use the moment of distraction to do what neither Fubuki nor Akira had bothered to, and he quickly sought out the cause of the blaze that was ravaging the large mansion, eliminating the pest with a single lash of his Rose Whip. He then carefully made his way over to join Fubuki, who was still enjoying the attention she was receiving.

"It was nothing," she said. "I've jumped out from greater heights, carrying heavier weights and with something much scarier than fire chasing after me!"

"We're so glad you managed to rescue our dog," the father of the family said. "My little princess just adores her dog and she would be lost without her."

"It's all in a day's work for me," Fubuki casually replied.

"Did you find my cat, Miss?"

Fubuki and Kurama looked down at the little boy looking up at them through tear-filled eyes.

"It's too dangerous for the nice lady to go back inside again," the boy's mother told him. "We don't even know if your cat was in the house when the fire started."

Kurama and Fubuki slowly lifted their heads, their eyes meeting.

"Don't even think about it," Kurama quietly warned her.

"We've gotta go back anyway, right?" she whispered back. "We still have to stop the little pest, don't we?"

"I've already taken care of that," Kurama replied. "Because you and Akria both forgot to."

Fubuki leaned closer to him.

"So the fire isn't getting any worse, right?" she asked. "So now we could sneak back in and get the cat."

Kurama leaned closer to her.

"We shouldn't even have shown our faces to anyone here," he pointed out. "If we are seen at events like this, we will gain a reputation as vigilantes."

"So?"

"So we have to keep a low profile – not only because we don't want trouble with the authorities during the Dark Age but also because we need to have a life after the Dark Age and that could be complicated if we are remembered as troublemakers."

"We're not troublemakers, we're heroes!"

"Trust me, that is not how we will be remembered."

Fubuki moved closer to Kurama again and he moved closer to her, waiting for her to answer him.

"You know you actually have really good skin for a 2000 year old fox," she whispered.

Kurama was momentarily unsure of how to respond, but he was shortly saved the bother of having to as their exchange was abruptly interrupted.

"Not interrupting anything, am I?"

At first, Kurama merely registered the voice addressing them as a familiar one, and did not associate it specifically with any one person, and so only when he turned to the source of the voice did he realise who had spoken.

"Oh hey, you!" Fubuki said cheerfully. "What are you doing here? Oh wait, are you here to give us more bad news?"

Botan gave Fubuki a slightly disapproving look before turning her attention back to Kurama.

"Where's Akira?" she asked him.

Kurama hesitated before answering as he realised that Akira was still inside the burning house – not that it ought to be a major problem for a fire demon, though it could be if he had become trapped beneath one of the falling roof beams – and that Botan looked a little harried. Her ponytail looked a little scraggly, she looked slightly sweaty – stray strands of hair were clinging to the skin around her hairline – and her chest was heaving as though she was out of breath.

"Do you have a message for Akira from Spirit World?" Kurama asked her.

Botan opened her mouth to answer but suddenly gasped and visibly started, almost as though she had been stabbed in the back by something invisible. She turned around and stumbled slightly, and as Kurama followed the direction she was facing, he noticed Akira returning to the group, at an unhurried pace, apparently oblivious to the fact that his clothing was smoking all over, and there was a small patch of flames licking over his right shoulder.

"I found a cat," he said, holding out a slightly grubby, slightly distraught, fluffy tabby cat.

The little boy ran forwards and grabbed the cat from Akira's hands, hugging it into himself and smiling brilliantly: but the remainder of the group, including Kurama, Fubuki and Botan, all had their eyes on Akira.

"What were you thinking running into a house that's on fire?" Botan snapped suddenly.

"It's fine, I'm fire-proof," Akira answered.

"Yes you are," Botan said, bunching up one of the sleeves of her kimono. "But your clothes aren't!"

She began frantically slapping her bunched up sleeve against the small smouldering hole in Akira's outfit by his shoulder.

"Are you allowed to be here?" Akira asked her.

Botan slowed her actions as she looked over at Kurama with what was easily the strangest look he had ever seen in her eyes.

"Excuse us," she said, before bustling Akira away from the group.

Kurama turned back to the family still standing next to them, who had gone from looking distraught to relieved to downright confused.

"Let's get out of here," Kurama whispered to Fubuki.

Fubuki nodded and, despite Kurama's tone, said her goodbyes to the family and wished them luck getting their house repaired before joining Kurama as he moved away from them. He was heading towards Botan, who had taken Akira away from the group. The two appeared to be having an urgent conversation about something in hushed tones, but they quickly stopped when they noticed Kurama and Fubuki approaching.

"Is everything alright?" Kurama asked, directing his question at Botan, who he had – as Fubuki had – assumed was coming to deliver more bad news.

"Yes," Botan replied. "I was just checking that you were alright. I heard you had some trouble at a shopping mall earlier today and now this fire… I just wanted to check that you were managing alright."

"We're doing great!" Fubuki cheerfully replied. "We've got it all under control, so don't worry about it. And you can tell Koenma not to worry too, since I know he's probably the one who sent you here to check up on us."

Botan laughed nervously.

"Yes, you know how Lord Koenma worries!" she said.

"Actually Botan, if you could spare us some time, we could use your help back at the safe house," Kurama said.

Botan turned to him and again she had a strange look on her face – though this time it was simply what seemed like an inappropriate level of optimism.

"Kuwabara has suffered a quite brutal injury and his recovery will not be a simple or speedy one," Kurama explained. "Yukina's healing magic alone will be insufficient to help him, I wonder if you could come back with us and tend to Akira whilst Yukina and I tend to Kuwabara?"

Botan smiled and put an arm around Akira's shoulders.

"That would be fine by me," she said.

"Thank you, Botan," Kurama said. "We came here in Kuwabara's car, it's parked just along this road if you'd–"

"It's fine, we can fly back," Botan cut him off.

Kurama looked down at Akira who, despite having been rendered unconscious from exhaustion earlier that day and despite his clothes being ruined, looked remarkably well.

"Will you come in the car with Fubuki and I or will you go with Botan?" he asked.

"Let the kid go with Botan!" Fubuki said, waving a hand in the air. "Akira loves to fly! Right?"

Fubuki turned to Akira, who nodded.

"There you go," Fubuki said, turning back to Kurama. "Let's go."

She put her hands on Kurama's shoulders from behind and began pushing him away, leaving him with little other choice than to leave Akira with Botan in the hope that Botan would manage to get the skittish emiko back to the safe house.

* * *

Something had definitely changed. Yusuke was still not sure what it was or even when it had happened, but he was acutely aware of how much it had changed as he stood with Hiei, Touya and Chu by the pyre they had carefully constructed over Suzuka's body. Watching Hiei light the sticks had given Yusuke a strange feeling – and not just because he had been opposed to the idea of burning Suzuka's body. (Yusuke had specifically made sure that both Rinku and Shishiwakamaru were buried carefully in clearly marked sites that could later be excavated, as he was sure that they could yet be saved, but he had been over-ruled on the decision of how to honour Suzuka's death after the other three remaining members of the team had agreed that digging a grave would be too time-consuming and energy-draining.) Yusuke could not help but feel that Hiei was somehow partly to blame for all the bad things that were happening. If he felt distrustful of all of his team-mates, he would have dismissed the feeling as just a side-effect of either the dire situation, his earlier experience with Risho or else just the psychological effect the Dark Force's attacks were starting to have on everyone in Demon World; but Yusuke's suspicions were solely directed at Hiei.

Hiei had always been a little blunt and quite vocal about hating anything outside of Demon World and he had always had a tendency for the reckless and chaotic, but Yusuke had always assumed that he could rely on Hiei to do what was right when faced with a difficult situation. However, since the start of the Dark Age – or possibly even earlier than that – Hiei seemed to be doing the opposite of what was right in every situation they faced. And, to make matters even worse, he had lost his sense of humour.

Of course, Hiei had never had a sense of humour in the traditional sense. Yusuke could not share jokes with Hiei or goad him into participating in pranks like he could with Kuwabara and even Kurama, but that was not to say that Hiei did not enjoy exchanging sarcastic one-liners and indulging in the occasional bout of witty – if also slightly morbid – banter. Yusuke had always used humour as tool to connect with people and Hiei had been no exception to that rule. At first, in the very early days of their acquaintance, Hiei had rejected Yusuke's jocular manner, but, over time, he had come to accept and ultimately even indulge it. But lately it was as though the Hiei Yusuke had come to know had been swapped out for an older version of himself: one that did not understand or appreciate the quirks of Yusuke's character.

And so, as he stood watching the flames crackle away, instead of silently remembering his fallen friend, as he was sure the others were doing, Yusuke tried to figure out exactly when Hiei had changed. His first idea was that it had happened around about the time that Hiei had moved back to Demon World, at the time when he had first gone to live and train with Mukuro: but even that was wrong, as Yusuke could remember joking around with Hiei during the first Demon World Tournament. The Demon World Tournament was – according to Koenma – the main reason why the Dark Age had come early, but Yusuke's memories of the very first tournament were all quite positive. He remembered the excitement of the drawing of lots, the frantic action of the elimination rounds and then how awesome it had been to be both a participant and audience member of the actual one-on-one bouts that followed. He remembered Koenma turning up dressed as Tuxedo Mask as though he thought that look would not make him conspicuous in Demon World, he remembered Kurama's incredible transformation into Yoko during his inspired battle against Shigure and he remembered that hilarious joke he had successfully managed to play against both Hiei and Botan.

Thinking about the joke he had played on Hiei and Botan back during the first Demon World Tournament, Yusuke realised that Hiei had still at least had a sense of humour back then. He could even remember Hiei being in good spirits in all of the subsequent tournaments, with the possible exception of the last one, three years ago, when Hiei had lost to a surprisingly weak opponent: though Yusuke thought that Hiei's poor humour back then had been more down to his loss than any general change in his demeanour. Yusuke had not seen much of Hiei after that, and he supposed that, if what everyone else had said was true, the Dark Age had already been approaching by then and maybe it had been during that time that Hiei had changed. There had been a slight dip in Hiei's responsiveness to Yusuke's jokes over the years, but, since the last Demon World Tournament, it had taken a positive dive. Yusuke did not really want to be butting heads with Hiei – least of all at such a time of crisis – but it seemed almost impossible to hope that, after what they had been through and how Hiei had deal with Rinku's death, they could ever go back to the same level camaraderie they had shared during that first Demon World Tournament.

The first Demon World Tournament seemed to have been the peak of everything, Yusuke thought bitterly. It had been the peak of his ability to balance his life between Demon World and the living world, it had been the peak of his friendships with Hiei and Kurama and it had been the peak of all his other friends in general. Since that time, Keiko had grown older and become more closed-off, Kuwabara had lost interest in even humouring Yusuke with a sparring session, Hiei had changed and even Botan had gotten weird. Maybe, Yusuke thought, he was being too hard on Hiei. Maybe Hiei was not the only one who had changed. As much as Yusuke felt he could no longer play pranks on Hiei like he had during the first Demon World Tournament, he was equally as sure he would no longer be able to play that same prank on Botan that he had back then: which was unfortunate, as it had been the best prank he had ever played on anyone. The fact that he had managed to play it on both Hiei and Botan just made it all the more perfect and hilarious.

Yusuke could still remember every detail of his little trick too. He remembered how he had stumbled across Hiei – almost literally – standing in by the edge of the foyer of the hotel adjacent to the tournament arena, staring up at the fixtures board with a look that was as close to anxious as Hiei ever got: his eyes were a little wider than usual, his face was a little paler than usual and there was a faint glistening of sweat by the edges of the bandana around his forehead. Seeing his expression as an excuse to tease him, Yusuke had sidled over and grinned at the emiko until he turned to look at him.

"I don't know what you're grinning about," Hiei had grumbled.

"Watching you busting your balls," Yusuke replied, his grin widening.

"Hn, have you even looked at the tournament groupings?" Hiei asked him, holding out a hand towards the board mounted on the wall ahead of them.

Yusuke turned and looked at the board, really seeing nothing more than a long row of names at the bottom and lines and empty boxes moving up the way to a final box at the very top. Unlike the Dark Tournament, there were no oddly weighted battles – Yusuke had made sure that the tournament was arranged fairly, with every competitor being made to fight in every round, and without the sneaky additional rounds for certain fighters only like the Dark Tournament had – and so he saw no reason for Hiei to sweat.

"There's not that many rounds to get to the top," he said, assuming that was Hiei's concern.

"Idiot, it's not the number of rounds, it's my potential opponent," Hiei brusquely replied. "And yours too."

"Oh really?" Yusuke said, leaning forwards with one hand on his hip and the other rubbing at his chin as he scanned over the bottom row of the tournament board.

"Not the first round, fool," Hiei said. "The third."

Yusuke straightened up and tilted his head to one side.

"We're not at the third round yet," he pointed out.

"No, but if you project ahead, you can see who your potential opponent could be," Hiei replied. "And in some cases – like yours and mine – it's painfully obvious who our opponents will be in the third round."

"It is?"

By that point, Yusuke had noticed what Hiei was referring to. By following up from his own name to the third round and then following the line back down, Yusuke could see that his opponent in the third round would probably be Yomi, and he supposed that was a reason to be anxious; though for Yusuke, any nervousness was more from excitement than apprehension. And, looking over at where Hiei was placed, it was also obvious that Hiei would face Mukuro in the third round, which was obviously why he was getting edgy. But Yusuke could also see that Hiei was getting severely irritated by his apparent inability to read the tournament board, and Yusuke loved irritating Hiei, so he continued to feign ignorance.

"Don't you see it?" Hiei growled. "You will be fighting Yomi and I will be fighting Mukuro!"

"Really?" Yusuke responded. "Gee, how do you know that? Did your extra eyeball tell you? Was it that magic 8 ball in your forehead that predicted who your opponent would be? Maybe I should get me one of those. Don't really like the idea of looking like a three-eyed freak though…"

"I just looked at the damn board!" Hiei snapped. "Which is what you should try doing!"

Yusuke grinned but Hiei remained fired up. Usually at such a moment, when Yusuke flashed such a huge, self-satisfied, grin, Hiei would realise that he was being mocked and back down or else throw an insult at Yusuke and pretend not to enjoy the joke: but this time he seemed too far gone in his own concerns to see any humour in them.

"Hey, are you seriously freaking out about fighting Mukuro?" Yusuke asked. "Isn't that what you wanted? To test yourself against her? I thought that was one of the main reasons you signed up for this tournament because, you know, you're not fooling anyone – least of all me – with pretending that you actually want to win and become the new ruler of Demon World. Everybody knows you don't want the responsibility of being the new boss around here."

"Yes, I do want to fight Mukuro and yes, I don't want to become the new king," Hiei tightly replied. "But that doesn't mean I'm not…"

"Nervous?"

"I don't get nervous."

"Worried?"

"I don't get worried."

"Scared?"

"Do you want to die?"

Yusuke grinned again, but Hiei still looked miserable. Undeterred and still determined to find a way to make Hiei forget about his stresses – because Yusuke was determined that the Demon World Tournament was going to be a fun thing that everyone involved enjoyed participating in – Yusuke began racking his brain for an idea of how he could distract Hiei from fretting about what might come to pass, even if only temporarily. After looking around the relatively empty foyer, he felt bereft in inspiration: and so his mind resorted to the one subject area it always did when he was trying to concentrate too much on something that was just too complex to find a solution to.

"Well, if you're looking for a way to keep your cool until the third round comes around, why don't you just go get laid?"

Yusuke was sure he had never seen Hiei look so horrified in all the time he had known him. For a long moment, Hiei had stood, frozen on the spot, his face pale and his eyes wide, his fingers twisted awkwardly and his shoulders tensed. After some time, his eyes slowly moved to glare up at Yusuke in a sidelong sneer.

"I'm just saying," Yusuke continued. "It always helps me relax and takes my mind off things that are bothering me."

"Really?" Hiei asked.

"Yeah, sure," Yusuke replied.

"You expect me to believe that you've ever "gotten laid"?"

"Hey!"

"Am I supposed to believe that Keiko has ever actually succumbed to any of your smooth advances?"

"Hey, watch it, three eyes!"

Yusuke and Hiei turned from each other moodily, and another long moment of silence passed between them. Yusuke was sure that he would have been the first to recover from the wound to his pride regardless of what might have happened next, but what did happen next both made him forget Hiei's insult and offered him the perfect opportunity to recommence tormenting Hiei. Turned from Hiei, Yusuke was facing the hotel entrance, and so he saw before Hiei did someone racing inside, waving her hands about frantically. Yusuke started to grin as he watched Botan – still dressed in her ridiculous disguise – flapping a fan about her head as a pesky, over-sized mosquito buzzed around her head. She was so caught up in wafting the bug away – and eventually successfully swatting the mosquito into a pile of goo – with her fan, that she failed to notice a second insect buzzing around her ankles. As she tried to wipe the gunk off of her fan with the aid of the leaf of an ornamental plant, the second insect disappeared in the folds of her kimono. She eventually gave up trying to salvage her fan and dropped it into a nearby waste bin. She took a step forwards but then made a small squeaking sound, her face twisting in panic. Yusuke's grin widened as she thrust one leg forwards and whipped aside the folds of her clothing, exposing so much skin, he was almost sure she thought she was alone in the foyer. The mosquito had landed on the outside of her thigh, just above her knee, and she began trying to haul it loose.

Yusuke slapped the back of his hand against Hiei's arm, earning himself a grunt in response. He slapped Hiei again, this time causing him to turn around. Yusuke then pointed over at Botan and looking down at Hiei, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

"What do you expect me to do about that?" Hiei hissed.

"Get on it, Hiei," Yusuke replied.

"I'm sure even a creature as weak as she is can vanquish a simple insect," Hiei replied.

"No, not that," Yusuke corrected him. "I mean you were asking me if I knew anyone you could hook up with to help take your mind off fighting Mukuro, and now I'm throwing you a bone."

"…Apart from Mukuro, I literally don't understand a single word you just said."

"I said you could get busy with Botan."

Hiei's face dropped.

"Come on Hiei, why not?" Yusuke asked. "She's single, you're single, she's desperate, you're desperate… She's got nice legs, right?"

Hiei looked over at Botan for what seemed like longer than was necessary given his next remark.

"Idiot, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!" he growled at Yusuke. "She and I are from different worlds – in every sense – and I can't imagine anything worse."

"Really?" Yusuke asked.

"Really," Hiei sternly replied.

"So you can't imagine it, huh?"

"No."

"Not at all?"

"No."

"Not even slightly?"

"No."

"Then why are you blushing?"

Hiei clenched his fists and sneered, but did not reply. He did, however, start to turn a little red in the face, making Yusuke's false accusation suddenly true. Yusuke's grin widened further still and he started to walk away from Hiei, who very naively turned back to the tournament board, apparently under the assumption that Yusuke had finished winding him up. Grinning all the way, Yusuke walked over to Botan, who was still desperately clawing at the insect biting into her leg.

"Hey Botan, are you okay there?" he asked, pretending to be genuinely concerned.

"Oh Yusuke, these horrible insects have been harrying me all day and now one of them is biting me and it won't let go!" she wailed.

"Let me get that for you," Yusuke said, kneeling down at her side.

"Thank you so much Yusuke," she said as he pinched his fingers around the insect, squishing it effortlessly. "Oh dear…"

As Yusuke removed his hand, he revealed a circular sore in the side of Botan's leg around the bite site.

"This day has been so stressful," she said with a sigh as she rearranged her clothing over herself again and Yusuke stood up at her side. "I'm going up to my room and I'm staying there for the rest of the day because that way, nothing else stressful can happen!"

Yusuke nodded.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," he said. "But, you know, you shouldn't really come in here flashing yourself around like that."

Botan looked genuinely horrified, staring up at Yusuke with wide, pink eyes and her lips formed into an "oh".

"You were opening up your outfit," Yusuke reminded her.

"I was trying to get to the insect that was biting me!" she protested.

"Well, that's all well and good for you, but all I'm saying is, from where we were standing, it kinda just looked like you came in here, did a little fan dance and then whipped open your kimono and started showing off your legs," Yusuke said.

Botan gasped, her face flooding with colour.

"You were flapping about so much, at one point, we even got a glimpse of your panties," Yusuke casually lied.

"Oh my goodness, no you did not!" Botan gasped, her hands flying to her face and her blush intensifying.

"Oh yeah, we did," Yusuke replied. "We saw it all. We thought you were doing it on purpose."

Botan's shocked expression slowly gave way to one of concern, her blush draining and leaving her deathly pale.

"Why do you keep saying "we"?" she asked in a small voice.

Yusuke flicked a thumb over his shoulder and Botan leaned past him, gasping as she noticed Hiei, still standing by the tournament board.

"Hiei saw it all too?" she asked, straightening up again in front of Yusuke. "But then why is he just standing over there like that, pretending he can't even see or hear us?"

Yusuke had to fight back a grin at the fact that he had so perfectly set it up that he would be able to torment both Hiei and Botan.

"Because he's shy," he whispered.

"Shy?" Botan whispered back. "Hiei? No!"

"He's not shy about most things, sure," Yusuke said. "But he's really shy about… Well, you know…"

Botan shook her head.

"You don't know?" Yusuke asked, acting incredulous at this apparent revelation. "Gees, I thought everybody knew…"

"Knew what?" Botan asked.

She was literally hanging on his every word. It was so perfect. The only thing that could have made it any more amusing for Yusuke would have been if Kuwabara had been there to enjoy the joke with him and Keiko had been there to fret about it.

"Hiei," he said quietly, giving a small motion of his head in Hiei's direction. "He's got the biggest crush on you, but he's too shy to tell you about it."

Botan covered her mouth with her hands, but by the shape of what he could see of her face, it was clear to Yusuke that her jaw was hanging open.

"I can't believe you didn't know already!" he said. "Everybody else knows about it – it's so obvious!"

"It is?" Botan asked.

"Oh yeah!" Yusuke replied. "He's had a crush on you for like the longest time ever!"

"Really? How long? Because the first time we met, he wanted to kill me…"

"Oh, gee, I dunno exactly how long it's been…"

"Then are you sure it's true?"

"Hey, the only reason I can't remember when it started is because it's been going on so long…"

"No!"

"Yeah, seriously. He's got it so bad, seeing you coming in here and shaking yourself all about and then taking off your clothes–"

"I wasn't taking off my clothes!"

"Poor little guy – it was more than he could stand…"

Yusuke purposefully turned to look at Hiei and Botan copied his action.

"I had no idea Yusuke!" she whispered.

"Don't worry about it Botan," Yusuke said. "It's been going on so long, I'm sure he knows by now that you're not interested."

Botan gasped.

"I told him he should let go and move on, but…"

Yusuke paused for dramatic effect, waiting until Botan was leaning towards him and holding her breath in anticipation.

"I guess he's just got it so bad, he just can't let go," he concluded. "Poor guy."

"That's so awful!" Botan whispered. "I swear, I had no idea! I've always liked Hiei, it pains me to think that he's been torturing himself all this time over me!"

"You like Hiei?"

"Well of course I do! I like all my friends–"

"That's great! You should let him know. He's too shy to make the first move, so you should go over there and just let him know that you like him too."

"But I don't know if I like him like that–"

"Wow Botan, you really are a cock tease, huh?"

"What?"

Yusuke sighed, leaning forwards and pressing the call button for the elevator.

"You just go on ahead, back to your room," he said. "And I'll just have to tell Hiei that you don't care about him."

"Yusuke, don't say that!"

Yusuke jogged away from Botan – he was going to have to time his next move very carefully, as the elevator was already rapidly descending – taking himself back to Hiei, who appeared not to have heard or even noticed the interchange he had just shared with Botan.

"Hey Hiei, let's go for a drink," he said, putting an arm around Hiei's shoulders.

"Fine, but don't bother trying to force any women upon me," Hiei grumbled, allowing himself to be steered away from the tournament board by Yusuke's guiding arm.

"Sure thing, buddy," Yusuke said as the started across the foyer. "It'll just be you and me, on a guys' night out."

"And don't bother making a fool of yourself, either."

Yusuke heard the ping of the elevator arriving and then the whoosh of the doors sliding open. He angled Hiei slightly as Botan stepped through the doors, waiting until she had pressed the button to select the floor she was staying on before gripping his hand into Hiei's shoulder. Just as Hiei started to complain about Yusuke's hold, the elevator doors began to slide shut and Yusuke hurriedly shoved Hiei through them, seeing only a brief glance of Botan's confused face and Hiei glaring out at him from the awkward position he had landed in at her feet. Yusuke started laughing – because he was sure that his little practical joke was now apparent and would soon be over – as he stood outside the semi-reflective elevator doors, waiting for the inevitable moment that they would reopen and both Hiei and Botan would come charging out accusing him of mocking them.

When the elevator made that noise it did when it was readying to move, Yusuke's laughter eased, his eyes moving to the display above the door.

When he clearly heard the elevator start rising upwards and he clearly saw the display counting up the floors, Yusuke slowly stopped laughing.

He waited for the elevator to reach its destination floor, as he was sure that, by then, Hiei and Botan would have talked and figured out what he had just done to them, and the elevator would promptly drop back down and deliver them both back to him, irate and embarrassed.

The elevator stopped on the seventeenth floor and did not move again.

After about ten minutes of standing expectantly in the foyer, Yusuke finally accepted that neither Hiei nor Botan would be coming back. He thought that maybe they were planning to pull a retaliation prank on him: but neither of them were that way inclined and so their continued absence just seemed all the more odd. But Yusuke carried on, eventually ending up meeting up with Kurama and some of his other friends who were in the tournament, before arriving back late to the hotel.

By the next morning, Yusuke had forgotten all about the trick he had played on Hiei and Botan, and so when he encountered Koenma standing in the foyer – still dressed in his supposed disguise that made him look like a bad Tuxedo Mask cosplayer – Yusuke was at first confused.

"Hey Koenma," Yusuke greeted him. "You look kinda pissy. What's up, are you teething now?"

"Very funny, Yusuke," Koenma grumpily replied.

"Seriously, what are you doing hanging around here on your own?" Yusuke asked him.

"I'm not alone, it just looks like I'm alone because I made the lycra-clad ogre sit down over there because his outfit is so embarrassing," Koenma replied, pointing at his faithful assistant George, who was sitting on a bench by one corner of the large entrance foyer.

"Okay…" Yusuke said slowly.

"And if I look angry, it's probably because I've been stood up!" Koenma added snippily.

"Huh?"

"We agreed – Botan and I, that is – that we would meet back here at nine o'clock this morning. It's nine forty-five already and she still hasn't shown up!"

Strangely, hearing Koenma lament about Botan's lackadaisical time-keeping still did not remind Yusuke that he may be to blame for her absence: it was only when the elevator doors opened ahead of him and Botan staggered out that Yusuke suddenly remembered what he had done the day before. When he saw Botan looking a little drowsy and far less presentable than usual, rubbing one hand at one side of her face, Yusuke grinned. When he saw that she had been sharing the elevator with Hiei, who looked edgy and tense, he started to laugh. When Hiei fled the elevator and the hotel itself in a frantic dash, Yusuke started laughing harder. And finally, when Botan stopped rubbing at her face and revealed a red mark on her cheek, Yusuke broke into a fit of hysterics, ignoring the looks he was earning himself from everyone else around him. After all, it was obvious what had happened, and it was hilarious: obviously Botan had actually believed what he had told her about Hiei having a crush on her and that she ought to make the first move, and obviously that was exactly what she had done on the elevator down that morning, and obviously Hiei had panicked and slapped her across the face. The only thing that could have made the whole situation funnier would have been if Yusuke could have been in the elevator to see it all happen.

Later that day, when he had eventually tracked him down, Hiei did not mention anything about Yusuke's trick, and acted disinterested – if a little awkward – when Yusuke had asked him about it. But despite that, Yusuke and Hiei had maintained their usual rapport throughout the tournament. It was only after the tournament that things had seemed slightly off, and, ever since then, things had just seemed to get progressively worse. In fact, Yusuke thought to himself, that really funny prank he had played on Hiei (and Botan) had been the last time he had actually felt relaxed in Hiei's company and it had been the last time he had been able to really laugh with him (or at him). Something had definitely changed since that time, which maybe meant that the Dark Force had actually started waking up back then, and not four years ago on High Road like everybody else thought was the case.

As the group started to move on again – something they all did instinctively, without the need for words – Yusuke found himself thinking about what Touya had said earlier about how they should try not to split into groups with less than three members to allow for two members to objectively listen to anything outrageous the third member might have to say. Taking Hiei away, that only left three members of the original eight, and Yusuke wondered if he ought to confide in Chu and Touya about his concerns, if only to hear them tell him he was wrong and that the doubt he felt was just a side-effect of the what they were going through. He was only really considering talking to them because he expected their reassurance, he expected them to back up what he already hoped was true.

He was not really sure what he would do if they both said that they too doubted Hiei.

* * *

Botan sat forwards as Keiko entered the room. The temple was so quiet, Botan was sure everyone else had already gone to bed, Keiko included.

"Wow, it's dark in here!" Keiko commented.

Botan had been sitting alone in the living room with all the lights out. The TV was on, but she had turned the sound down as far as it would go and fallen into a daydream watching the silent movie playing before her.

"Do you want me to put a light on?" Keiko asked.

"I didn't want to put the light on in case it woke anyone up," Botan replied.

Keiko looked about the room as though she expected to find someone sleeping nearby. When her search proved fruitless, she sat down on the sofa beside Botan.

"So why are you still up?" she asked. "And sitting in here alone. In the dark. With the TV on. And the sound off."

"I suppose I was just delaying going back to Spirit World," Botan replied.

"Are you allowed to stay here?" Keiko asked.

Botan turned to her and smiled humourlessly.

"Probably not," she replied. "But I'm not ready to leave yet."

"Will Kuwabara be okay?" Keiko asked.

"Kurama had some special healing liquid he thought would be able to fully heal the wound," Botan replied. "It was quite severe though."

"It's really scary, seeing him hurt like that. I guess I forgot how scary what they do is. It's been so long since I've seen them fight."

Botan nodded.

"Hey, maybe instead of turning the sound on, we should pick a character each in this film and make up lines for them," Keiko suggested. "We could just ad-lib the dialogue and make it our own film!"

"I really don't want to wake anyone," Botan quietly replied.

Keiko nodded.

"So, um…"

Botan turned to Keiko expectantly, waiting for her to finish her thought.

"I guess I didn't keep track of what everyone was doing at my birthday slash dawning of the apocalypse party," Keiko continued. "And I didn't notice if… If you got a chance to… You know… Talk to Hiei?"

Botan hung her head, suddenly preferring to watch her fingers picking at the stitching of the hem of her kimono than to look at either the silent film or Keiko.

"I did, yes," she replied.

"And?" Keiko asked.

"It went about as well as it did the last several times I tried to talk to him," Botan answered. "He refused to listen, he misunderstood and he thinks I'm crazy."

"So… You didn't tell him yet?"

Botan's head snapped up abruptly and she looked about herself.

"Everyone's asleep, Botan," Keiko assured her. "It's just you and me."

Botan sighed and shook her head.

"He must know by now," she said. "After everything that's happened… He must know!"

"I don't know Botan, I still think you should tell him," Keiko said.

"It's not easy!"

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want him to think that… I don't want him to think that I'm trying to manipulate him somehow. That's always been the reason why I didn't want to tell him. I wanted to know how he really felt about me before I told him but… Clearly he doesn't feel anything for me… And now there's just no easy way of telling him. I don't even know where to begin…"

"Well, Genkai would have told you to tell the story from the very beginning. Which was the first Demon World Tournament, right?"

"For him, yes. For me, no."

Botan sighed and sat back into the cushioned backrest of the sofa.

"How do you tell someone that–"

Botan stopped abruptly, tensing as she heard footsteps approaching. She turned panicked eyes to Keiko, who shrugged and whispered that they were not doing anything they ought not to be and that she should relax: but despite that, Botan remained tense, and flinched visibly when Kurama entered the room offering them tea.

"No thank you," she said, standing up on shaky legs. "I really must get back to Spirit World. Lord Koenma will be looking for me,"

She nodded at Keiko and smiled at Kurama, before hurrying out of the temple and taking to the skies.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** Botan remembers the day Yusuke shoved Hiei into an elevator with her during the first Demon World Tournament – but her version of events tells a slightly different story from Yusuke's memories of that day. The DW team walk in on a tense three-way confrontation between Shura, Jin and Yomi which quickly escalates when they learn that at least one of the three has succumbed to the Dark Force. **Chapter 17 – Temptation**

**A/N: **I got carried away with the flashbacks, and the next chapter is predominantly a retelling of exactly what went down between Hiei and Botan during the 1st DWT – and what that might have led to since…


	17. Temptation

**Chapter 17 – Temptation**

Botan's experience of attending the very first Demon World Tournament was – initially at least – a quite scary, gritty time. Koenma had kept getting overly excited and popping out of his adult form disguise, George had kept accidentally picking fights with demons by blurting out faux pas after faux pas and Botan herself had been a source of ridicule for most of those she passed. During the tournament, she was staying in the hotel by the arena: Koenma and George were sharing a twin room on the top floor and Botan had been given a standard double room on the seventeenth floor: a place she had been prepared to gladly retreat to – even if it meant spending the rest of the evening alone – after an especially stressful day quite early on during her stay in Demon World. As she had reached the hotel entrance, a demon mosquito had started chasing after her and she had raced indoors in the hope of evading it, but without much luck. She could remember swatting it with her fan only to have another of the buggers bite her leg.

Just as Botan had started to believe that the insect was going to eat its way into her flesh before she could detach it, Yusuke arrived, like a true hero, and effortlessly removed and disposed of the little beast. It had left a nasty wound in the side of her leg that looked as though it would linger, but Botan was just glad to be free of her attacker.

"This day has been so stressful," she had confided in Yusuke as he had given her a strangely interested look, as though he actually wanted to listen to her recall how terrible her day had been. "I'm going up to my room and I'm staying there for the rest of the day because that way, nothing else stressful can happen!"

"You know, you shouldn't really come in here flashing yourself around like that," he replied, looking slightly concerned then.

Botan looked about herself and then down at herself: she and Yusuke were the only ones present and she was wearing multiple layers of clothing, showing only the skin on her face.

"What do you mean?" she asked him.

"You were opening up your outfit," Yusuke replied.

Botan nodded slowly.

"Yes, because that mosquito was biting my leg and I had to get to it," she said.

"Okay, I guess that makes sense, but from where we were standing, it kinda just looked like you came in here, did a little fan dance and then whipped open your kimono and started showing off your legs," Yusuke said.

Botan gasped, her face flooding with colour.

"Yusuke, not you too!" she complained. "I've had demons leering at me and making lewd comments all day long: can't you just be chivalrous, just this once?"

Yusuke shrugged.

"We thought you were just trying to give us an eyeful of those sexy panties you've got on," he said.

Botan felt her face get hot, and, on the edge of her vision, she could see that even the tip of her nose had turned red. Yusuke was smiling, but he looked oddly sure of what he was saying, as though he actually had gotten an eyeful of her underwear during her struggle to remove the mosquito.

"You were standing watching me try to stop that awful little pest from biting me?" she asked.

"Oh yeah," he confirmed. "We saw everything. Well, we saw that you wear sensible panties, but if you'd been wearing something a little cuter, we would have seen a lot more."

"Why did you just stand about watching me struggle instead of coming to help me sooner?" Botan demanded angrily.

She had been humiliated enough that day, she did not need one of her friends mocking her too.

"It was Hiei's idea," Yusuke said, pointing over one shoulder.

Botan leaned past him and gasped in horror as she noticed Hiei, standing some distance away, blushing furiously.

"What?" she wailed, moving her attention back to Yusuke.

"Yeah, he's got a crush on you," Yusuke casually replied, looking and sounding far too smug. "He's been watching you get undressed from outside the hotel, using his Jagan Eye, and he told me you wear granny panties, and I said no way, and then when you came in here stripping off your dress, it seemed like a good opportunity to settle the bet. Damn it Botan, you cost me five hiruiseki!"

"You made a bet about what type of knickers I wear?" Botan growled.

"Yeah," Yusuke replied.

"With Hiei?"

"Yeah."

"I don't believe you! Hiei would never make such a horrid bet and he would never spy on a girl in one of her vulnerable moments!"

Botan had been winning the argument – she was sure – but, in a moment of madness that she was still at a loss to explain, she said something really stupid that completely undermined her argument and handed Yusuke the upperhand once more.

"Would Hiei spy on a girl like that?" she asked meekly. "I-I never thought that he would be the type who liked to… Watch…"

A shadow fell over Yusuke's already gleaming, mischievous eyes and his grin became feral.

"Does that excite you?" he asked.

Botan paused before shaking her head. Why had she paused?

"Are you sure?" Yusuke asked. "Because you know Hiei is the sort who likes to watch. He likes to watch you in the shower. What do you think about that?"

Botan shook her head, but words failed her.

"He sees everything you do."

Botan froze. Truthfully, she had always felt a strange attraction to Hiei. It was purely physical, she told herself. When she had confided it in Ayame, the bookish ferry girl had advised her that what she felt was not love or even a crush: it was something called "parataxic distortion". Apparently she was just projecting an idealised view of Hiei onto him and that was what she was attracted to: the Hiei she had imagined and not the real, actual Hiei.

But that had not stopped her taking the odd moment to appreciate how beautiful everything about him could actually be.

It had not stopped her thinking about him when she was in the shower – not even when she was in Demon World.

"E-everything?" she asked faintly.

Yusuke nodded. Had Hiei told him what he had seen?

"Oh dear…" she gasped.

"Don't worry though," Yusuke said. "He said he likes what he sees."

Botan began to worry even more then, because Yuuske's last words surely confirmed her worst possible fear.

"Of course, he thinks you think that way about every guy you meet," Yusuke continued. "He actually has the cutest little crush on you, but he doesn't think you'll want him back, so he has to make do with spying on you."

Botan shook her head, again speechless.

"Don't worry about it Botan," Yusuke said. "It's been going on so long, I'm sure by now he gets that you're not interested."

Botan gasped.

"I told him he should let go and move on, but… I guess he's just got it so bad, he just can't let go," he concluded. "Poor guy."

"I had no idea…" Botan said faintly "I-I've always liked Hiei, it pains me to think that he's been torturing himself all this time over me…"

"You like Hiei?"

Botan bit her lip: could she trust Yusuke enough to tell him the truth about her feelings – even Ayame had told her it was all in her imagination, after all.

"That's great!" Yusuke said suddenly. "You should let him know. He's too shy to make the first move, so you should go over there and just let him know that you like him too."

Botan looked over at Hiei and her heart began to race.

"Just go over there and…?" she muttered. "And tell him? I can't do that!"

"Wow Botan, you really are a cock tease, huh?"

"What?"

Yusuke sighed, leaning forwards and pressing the call button for the elevator.

"You just go on ahead back to your room," he said. "And I'll just have to tell Hiei that you don't care about him. Who knows, maybe this time he'll finally get the hint."

"Yusuke, don't say that!"

But before she could stop him, Yusuke had started towards Hiei. Knowing that she could not stop him if he intended to make a joke of the situation, Botan instead turned her attention to the elevator, frantically pressing the call button in the hope of hurrying the elevator to her. When the doors finally opened she leapt through them and pressed the number for her floor before looking for the button that forced the doors to close early: but, in typical Demon World style, there was no such button, and so Botan had to wait for what seemed like an eternity for the doors to close. The doors took so long to close that she saw Yusuke and Hiei walk by: and, just as the doors did finally close, she saw Yusuke hurl Hiei into the elevator alongside her.

The doors closed and the elevator began to move before Hiei had made it to his feet and started towards the doors. Botan had always thought that moment to be the strangest part of the entire memory, as, with his incredible speed and reflexes, Hiei ought to have had enough time to get back up and stop the doors before they closed: it almost seemed as though he had deliberately waited until the elevator started to move and he knew that by then it would be too late to stop it.

He stood glaring at the doors until they had passed the first few floors before turning abruptly to face Botan.

"This wasn't my idea," he said gruffly.

"Wh-what do you mean?" she asked, clutching her hands at her chest protectively.

Hiei twitched but said nothing. Instead he stood staring up at Botan in a way that made her too afraid to move. Something about his demeanour made her feel strangely guilty and accused, and so, when the elevator finally stopped and the doors opened and she found herself unable to get past him to leave, she went on the defensive.

"I was bitten by a cruel insect, Hiei!" she said shrilly. "They were hunting me all the way back to the hotel and then they assaulted me! I was not flashing my legs at anyone, I was trying to stop that little menace from bleeding me dry!"

Hiei stepped to one side and Botan gladly strode past him. She had been ready to carry on with her original plan – to hurry all the way to her room and lock herself in it for the remainder of the day in peace and solitude – but all thoughts of finding peace left her mind when she distinctly felt something touch her as she stepped out into the hallway beyond the elevator doors. She stumbled to a halt, her heart jumping into her throat. She waited there momentarily, expecting Hiei to say something after what had apparently just happened – because surely it had been a mistake – but he did not so much as move. When the elevator gave a ping and the doors started to close, Botan acted on impulse and spun around, smacking her hands against the edge of one door. The doors halted abruptly, partially closed, leaving Botan still clutching one of the doors and glaring in at Hiei, who had moved to the back of the elevator, his hands in his pockets, his eyes watching the floor as though the speckled pattern on the elevator floor was somehow the most interesting thing he had ever seen.

"What was that?" Botan asked.

Hiei's eyes flicked up to her, but still he kept quiet.

"When I was walking out of the elevator, it felt like you…"

She could not even bring herself to say it. Even just thinking about it was embarrassing and yet simultaneously unbelievable.

"What I mean to say is that something touched me as I was…"

Trying to say it out loud was challenging. Saying it out loud whilst looking at Hiei was impossible.

"D-did you…?"

Botan gulped and slowly slid her hands from the door.

"N-never mind," she muttered.

She turned to leave, again hearing the ping of the elevator and the sound of the doors starting to close: but again the sound was cut short. She looked back over her shoulder to see why, and found Hiei suddenly standing in the by then quite narrow gap between the two doors, the outer edges of his feet pressed against each door to stop them closing.

"Do you have something you want to say to me?" he asked in a low voice.

Botan slowly turned around to face him.

"You touched my…"

She wanted to be indignant. She wanted to shout at him.

"My… You… When I walked past, you put your… It felt like… Your hand…"

"And what if I did?"

Botan was momentarily stunned. Of all the response she had expected, that was the absolute last one she could have guessed Hiei might give. She had mostly been expecting him to either accuse her of bumping into him or else tell her she had imagined it: because the alternative, the idea that he had deliberately touched her, was absurd.

Or maybe not, if what Yusuke had said earlier was actually true.

"That depends," she said, hardening her resolve and straightening to her fullest height. "Did you?"

"Yes I did."

"Well then. Checkmate."

Hiei frowned slightly and Botan understood why: she could not fathom why she had responded as she had, but since she had sounded so confident when she had spoken, she did not make any attempt to retract her words.

"What do you want to do about it?"

Botan almost fell over.

"About…?"

Hiei stepped out of the elevator and the doors slid shut behind him. He looked up and down the length of the empty hallway before fixing his eyes onto Botan's.

"Which room is yours?"

Botan did not really want to answer Hiei, as there was something mildly sinister about the way he was looking at her, but, as though it was acting on a will of its own, her right hand moved out to her side and pointed down the hallway. He looked in the general direction she was indicating before giving a single nod of his head, and, as though her body had started acting independent of the instructions from her mind, Botan found herself starting down the hall towards her room, the sound of Hiei's light footsteps following after her. As she started to unlock the door to her room she felt a repeat of what had happened when she had exited the elevator and she let out a yelp, spinning around abruptly, her back clattering against the door as she realised just how close Hiei had been standing behind her.

"Alright I know that was you!" she said.

He said nothing, and although his expression did not change, he almost looked amused upon hearing her words.

"You just touched my bottom!" Botan blurted out.

"What do you want to do about it?" Hiei responded.

"Well I know what I ought to do about it!"

"Which is?"

Botan paused before answering. It was the sort of conversation she could barely imagine herself having with Yusuke, far less Hiei.

"I-I um…" she began weakly.

"You might as well tell me," he said. "Because I'll find out eventually anyway."

Botan held up one finger, ready to ask him how exactly he thought he would find the answer out: but as he tilted his head downwards slightly and she saw a faint bluish glow through his bandana, she realised that he intended to read her mind, which would be disastrous, because if he did that, he would probably also learn that she sometimes had some quite inappropriate thoughts about him doing far worse than grabbing her rear end.

"I should slap you across the face," she said, fumbling for the door handle at the small of her back in the vain hope that if she could open the door, she might be able to flee into the room to escape Hiei.

"Then why don't you?" he asked.

"Well, the moment's passed now… Sort of… Seems like… A delayed reaction?"

"What would you do if I did it again?"

"A-are you going to do it again?"

"I might."

"Ah… Then… Well, I suppose I would also wonder wh-why you're doing it?"

"Because I like the way it moves and I wanted to touch it."

"Well it belongs to me and I control how it moves and how it feels."

Botan frowned slightly, unsure if what she had said had even made any sense – but she did not get long to contemplate the sensibility of her retort.

"So you admit to wiggling it provocatively in my face?"

Botan held up a finger, but it shortly wilted as the full implications of Hiei's words sank in.

"Hiei, do you…?"

She had to know. All those ridiculous things Yusuke had been saying were all starting to seem substantially less ridiculous and possibly even factual and she just had to know.

"Do you want me to…?"

"Open the door."

"…That wasn't what I was going to say…"

"Open the door."

"Okay."

Botan reaffirmed her grip on the door handle and pushed open the door behind her, staggering backwards into the room. She kept herself pressed to the door as Hiei casually strolled past her into the room beyond. More out of habit than for any logical reason, Botan closed the door before moving into the room to join Hiei by the foot of the bed.

"It's quite a pleasant room actually," she said.

"I wouldn't say so," he replied, looking about himself.

"The bed isn't very comfy," she conceded.

"But the rug is."

Botan looked down at the fluffy rug Hiei was standing on. She placed one foot onto it and experimentally pressed her weight down, before nodding.

"I suppose so," she concluded.

"So where would you prefer I take you, the bed or the rug?"

Botan paused, her eyes still on the rug as she lifted her foot off of it. She slowly returned her foot back to its original position, all the while torn between wondering if she had heard Hiei correctly and trying to deny that he had said anything at all.

"I prefer the rug myself," Hiei added. "But you're the one who will be on your back, so I'll let you decide."

Botan supposed that, in hindsight, what Hiei had said then had been the absolute most disgusting thing any man could have said to her; but for some reason, at the time he had said it, she had found it more intriguing and exciting than crude and disgusting. And when she had lifted her head and met his eyes she had only had a few more seconds to think about anything before she found herself finding out exactly how comfortable the rug could be.

The next morning, Botan had awoken to find herself naked and sprawled out on the fluffy rug on her bedroom floor, her head resting on something that was even hotter to the touch that her own skin felt. She sat up slowly at first, wiping away her hair – which had become stuck to her sweaty face – and stretched her arms above her head before noticing the time on the clock on the nightstand and leaping to her feet in a panic. She darted about the room, hauling on her clothes and hurriedly tying up her hair, only stopping when she noticed that somehow, amidst her chaotic dashing around, her pillow had arisen, dressed himself and smoothed out his hair, looking perfectly calm and in control despite her thundering heart.

"Don't tell anyone about what happened last night," he said as she met his eyes.

The truth was, she barely even believed what had happened the night before herself, so she had no intentions of telling anyone, as she was sure nobody else would believe it either.

"My face feels funny," she said instead, rubbing a hand at the side of her face that had been practically stuck to Hiei's chest when she had woken up. "It's really hot – like I've been burned."

"I mean what I said," he said. "Don't tell anyone."

Botan nodded numbly and reached for the door, shortly finding her hand touching Hiei's as he reached the door handle just ahead of her. She hurriedly snatched her hand away, clutching it to her chest and feeling horribly embarrassed, despite the fact that a small voice in the back of her head was screaming at her that it was ridiculous to feel embarrassed about touching Hiei's hand after she had touched every other part of his body the night before. Hiei turned to her, his eyes glaring – though that was all they ever seemed to do – and his mouth set into a displeased pout.

"There's a bar in this hotel," he said.

Botan arched her eyebrows, wondering why he would say such an odd thing at such a moment.

"I'll be there tonight," he continued after a short pause. "I expect you to be there to."

"Um, okay?" Botan muttered, confusion taking over any sense of awkwardness she had been plagued by.

"If I look directly at you, if I make eye contact with you there," he said. "I expect you to come directly up to this room."

Botan's eyebrows flickered into a twisted frown.

"Wait for me here. I will join you as soon as I can."

Botan shuddered.

"But if you tell anyone about this, I will never look at you again."

"Okay."

Hiei nodded and opened the door and Botan followed him out of the room. As they moved down the hallway and entered the elevator together, Botan wondered if Hiei's behaviour was just a demon thing – that demon's conducted their romantic affairs in a different way from other beings – or it was just a Hiei thing. Either way, she believed that the physical part of their relationship had to precede the development of the emotional part of it. When the elevator reached the ground floor and Hiei abruptly marched out, leaving her to stagger out to find Yusuke snorting into his hand at a joke nobody else seemed to know about, Koenma looking irritable and George hiding beside a potted plant, Botan could feel not only the warmth still lingering in her face where she had been resting on Hiei but also a faint hint of the buzzing feeling around her lips that had so overwhelmed her better judgment the night before when Hiei had kissed her so persistently and passionately.

"Aren't you even going to attempt to explain to me why you're so late?" Koenma had raved at her.

Botan could not remember what – if anything – she had said back to him. He ended up asking her that very same question every morning thereafter until the day they left Demon World, because every night thereafter, regardless of what had happened during the day, Botan overslept in the morning and always awoke to find herself sprawled over the fluffy rug of her bedroom floor, unable to distinguish whose sweat she was coated in: her own or Hiei's. Every night she had gone to the bar in the hotel, and every night Hiei had either been there waiting or else he had arrived shortly afterwards, and every night he looked her directly in the eye just as he had said he might.

Every night she thought he either would not look at her or not even turn up at all, but every night he did. At first, she would arrive at the bar and Hiei would already be there with Yusuke and a few other familiar faces. She would order a glass of pink lemonade and sit in a dull corner of the room and wait for him to look at her – which he would usually only do once the bar was quite full of bodies and Yusuke and his friends were quite merrily drunk – and then she would go to her room to wait no more than ten minutes for him to join her. But, after the first few nights, Botan started going to the bar earlier and earlier, until soon she was there before it had even opened and long before Hiei himself would show up. And, with time – between her arriving earlier and the number of contestants in the tournament diminishing, making it take that much longer for to the bar to get busy enough for them to sneak out unnoticed – the time Botan spent sitting waiting for Hiei's signal became longer and longer, and she hated it.

And she loved it.

She simultaneously hated waiting so anxiously for him, so terrified that he might not give her the signal, so worried that he might have changed his mind about seeing her, that she might have done something to displease him during their last encounter; but equally she loved the excitement of it, the way he would turn in her direction several but not look directly at her, she loved watching him nurse a single bottle of beer the entire night as he pretended to drink with his friends, she loved being so close to him but not being able to touch him just yet, the delicious anticipation only making what would follow all the more wondrous. She never knew if Hiei knew what he was doing to her in those moments, and she was never sure if him deliberately delaying her pleasure made it any more or less exciting.

It never occurred to her that they conducted their affair from the end of August through to the middle of October without anything ever preventing them from doing so. It seemed so stupid to think about it in hindsight: it was the sort of story most people would roll their eyes at, but it was Botan's reality. Anything about real life was forgotten during that time and even when it ended, even when she returned to Spirit World, she still did not realise what had happened. She went back to work and tried to sneak back to Demon World to see Hiei when she could, but every time she went, she could never get to him: she was always stopped before she could even get close to him, usually by Mukuro's foot soldiers. It was only when she went to see him around Christmas time that she realised the truth; after being denied access to Mukuro's fortress she had burst into what had been her worst ever bout of tears. She cried so forcefully she almost passed out and she even eventually vomited – at which point, one of the men who had stopped her pointed out that she was getting fat and told her she was obviously a high maintenance girl who comfort-ate.

Once she had recovered from her initial grief, Botan had flown slowly to the living world, the winter air feeling that much colder against the tracks of tears streaked down her face. She went to Keiko, because she did not know who or where else to go to, and she was always glad that she had, because Keiko had been her usual, sensible and sympathetic self. She gave Botan some cocoa, a change of clothes and she sat up all night with her as the pair of them tried to come to terms with the fact that Botan was pregnant.

Keiko was so good, she never even asked who the father was; Botan, of course, could never tell her.

She could never tell anyone, because nobody would ever believe it.

And, for the next three years, until the second Demon World Tournament, that was exactly how things remained: despite all the whispered rumours and the distinct downward slide her reputation in Spirit World took, Botan had her baby and told no-one about who the child's father was.

Even Koenma respected her wishes to keep her secret.

As Botan arrived back in Spirit World, she wiped her face with her sleeve and forced a smile: she could not let anyone know where she had been or that she had been crying, but that had been the way of life for her for the last fourteen years.

* * *

Hiei glanced back and forth between both ends of the room ahead. At his side, Yusuke, Chu and Touya were as stunned as he was. They all had seconds to make a decision but none of them wanted to commit, none were confident enough to make the first move.

After conducting an impromptu funeral for Suzuka and returning to creep through Yomi's by-then abandoned temple, they had finally reached a room with three people inside it.

Shura was standing at one end of the room and Yomi was standing at the other. Jin was standing in the middle, tensed in a fighting stance, his eyes flicking between the father and son. It was clear that all three had been fighting, but it was unclear whether they had been fighting each other or not.

"Hey, Jin?" Yusuke said. "What's going on here, buddy?"

When Jin did not respond to Yusuke, verbally or physically, Yusuke took a step forwards: but he stopped there abruptly as Yomi turned his head towards him.

"Don't come any closer," Yomi warned him.

Yusuke looked over each of his shoulders at his team-mates, but none of them had anything to offer him as they were all as confused as he was.

"We came here to help, you know!" Jin said suddenly, his eyes fixed on Yomi.

"This is my problem, and I've already told you, I expect you to stand down," Yomi replied.

"Jin's right, Yomi," Yusuke tried. "We came here to help. We're trying to stop the Dark Force. That's what you want too, right?"

"No."

Yusuke, who had been starting to edge forwards again, stumbled back a step in surprise at Yomi's response.

"Wh-what?" he grunted.

"I want to stop the Dark Force as much as anyone else," Yomi explained. "But not at the expense of my own son's life."

Hiei turned to Shura, something about the askew grin on his face reminding him of Risho's smug face when the Dark Force had spoken through him.

"Wait…" Yusuke said.

"Shura's aligned with the Dark Force," Jin said. "He's been runnin' all this madness here. It's because of him everyone here ended up under the control of the Dark Force. He took 'em all, and now he wants to take his father – and us too, if we let him!"

"Damnit…" Yusuke muttered.

Hiei drew out his sword and Yomi reactively held up a hand to indicate that he should not come any closer.

"I'm afraid this situation has gotten out of your control, Yomi," Touya tried. "I understand that this must have been difficult for you, but surely now, with your entire army and all of your possessions desecrated, you must realise what is really going on here."

"I've always appreciated your insight, Touya," Yomi calmly replied. "But I'll ask you to stay out of this."

"You have to kill the boy," Hiei said sternly.

Shura turned his head to Hiei, and, for the briefest moment, Hiei felt slightly ridiculous for having called him a boy, as he was as tall as Yomi, though a little gangly in build: but clearly no longer a boy.

"No, we can't let that happen!" Jin said urgently.

"Whose side are you on?" Hiei snapped, turning his attention to the wind demon.

"Don't you see, Hiei?" Jin asked. "This is what the Dark Force wants! He wants to make a father kill his own son! He wants to feed off all that negative emotional energy! He's a rotten bastard and we can't let him have his way this time!"

"Yeah, that's right!" Yusuke said. "You see? I told you Jin wouldn't let the Dark Force take him over! He's still on our side and he's the only one making any sense right now!"

"Yes, he is making sense," Hiei said. "The logical solution here is for the four of you – Yusuke, Jin, Touya and Chu – to get Yomi out of here and I will kill the boy."

It was, after all, the only logical way to deal with the situation. Shura had to die – even if he was only being controlled by the Dark Force, killing an S-class demon from the Dark Force's army would be a significant blow to the enemy's strength. Letting Yomi do it would be too emotional and it would only generate more fodder for the enemy to grow stronger from, making Shura's death a milder blow to it.

"That's not what I meant, Hiei!" Yusuke snapped at him. "We're not killing the kid! He didn't choose to have that bastard living inside of him!"

"How do you know that?"

Yusuke and Hiei both turned to Shura, who was smirking at Yusuke after his last remark.

"He didn't choose," Yusuke insisted. "And I know you're not Shura right now, you're that creepy bastard who lives in an underground cave most of the time."

"Maybe he did choose to join me," Shura replied, his tone sickeningly similar to the one Risho had used when the Dark Force had spoken through him. "Maybe he was sick of the false life he lived here with his false father. Maybe he understood that my way is the better way of life. Maybe he understood that my intention to revolutionise the three worlds isn't the evil plan some seem to think it is."

"Don't even bother pretending you have a noble cause, you sick piece of shit!" Hiei growled. "Yusuke if we don't do something, this bastard will torture Yomi to death and then come after us. You remember what I told you about how the Dark Force will make someone say things they never would or would never want to? Well that's what will happen here: Shura will say things to Yomi that will destroy him mentally and emotionally until he takes his own life or else relinquishes his soul to the Dark Force. If either of those things happen, the enemy will have reached a level of strength that we will no longer be able to control."

"What are you saying?" Yusuke asked.

"He's saying that if the Dark Force succeeds in either feeding off the emotional torture of a demon as strong as Yomi or else manages to take control of Yomi, Demon World will be all but lost," Touya explained.

"As in… Stage Two of the Dark Age?" Yusuke asked quietly, glancing back and forth between Hiei and Touya.

"Exactly," Hiei confirmed. "If we don't act quickly and correctly here, then we will be responsible for having allowed the Dark Age to progress into its next stage; and I believe that's the opposite of what we came here to do."

"Nobody is laying a hand on my boy," Yomi warned.

"Nobody wants to kill anyone here," Yusuke told him.

"But if it comes down to killin' him or him killin' all of us…" Chu began.

"I think it's clear what we have to do," Touya said.

Hiei turned to Touya, who nodded at him to confirm that he agreed with his earlier plan. Chu nodded too and Hiei turned to Yusuke, who hesitated.

"Hiei's right, Yusuke!" Jin said.

Hiei took that to mean that all the others – with the exception of Yusuke – agreed with him, and that was as close to a unanimous decision as he was going to get. Touya, Chu and Jin started towards Yomi and Hiei started towards Shura.

"Don't bother smiling at me like that," Hiei warned him. "Surely you remember how quickly I dealt with you the last time we met? Well this time won't be any different."

Hiei reaffirmed his grip on his sword and started to charge at Shura, only to grunt in complaint as something collided with him side-on, sending him flying into the wall. Hiei turned his head and bared his teeth at Yusuke, who looked every bit as angered with Hiei as Hiei was with him.

"What are you doing, you fool?" Hiei demanded.

"Stopping you from making a huge mistake!" Yusuke argued back.

"You don't know what you've just done," Hiei growled.

Yusuke frowned slightly but Hiei merely jerked his head towards Shura. Yusuke turned to watch, along with Hiei from their position at one side of the room, as Yomi dodged past Touya and Chu, threw Jin to the opposite side of the room and then launched himself at Shura. The father and son began wrestling on the floor and Hiei quickly pushed Yusuke aside, scrambling to his feet. Hiei ran over to where they were fighting, but stopped partway there, along with the others who had all tried to join him, as Yomi called out to them.

"He's my son," he said. "Let me deal with this."

"Don't do this!" Jin insisted.

"Shura wouldn't have wanted to be a puppet," Yomi said. "He's my son and I will deal with him."

Yusuke and Jin both ran forwards to try to stop Yomi, but both somehow ended up falling backwards and a flash of blinding light filled the room. When the glow had faded, Yomi was lying on top of Shura, who was missing a large part of his midsection, his lifeless eyes looking up at the ceiling.

"What the hell just happened?" Yusuke said as he got to his feet.

"You said you wouldn't let anyone kill the boy!" Jin added, standing up beside Yusuke. "Why did ya change your mind so damn fast?"

"Yeah…" Yusuke said slowly. "You changed your mind about that real fast! Like, suspiciously fast…"

Yomi slowly rose to his feet, his back turned to the others. He held his position for a few moments, during which, Hiei felt a sinking sense of dread deep in his gut. As Yomi turned around, an oddly detached look on his face, Hiei realised, with a curse, that their problems were only just beginning.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** Kurama discusses Akira with Kuwabara and Shizuru, the DW team have to make a very difficult decision about Yomi and Jin that leaves Yusuke and Hiei at each other's throats (literally), and Kurama's latest battle simulation goes horribly, horribly wrong when he inadvertently hires the help of two powerful fighters with a major grudge against one of Kuwabara's three students. **Chapter 18 – Divisive Action**

**A/N: **Chapter 17, Botan's hotel room on the 17th floor and the chapter title is temptation because Temptation by Heaven 17.

Also, Botan's memory of the conversation with Yusuke was deliberately different from Yusuke's memory of it because I wanted to make it seem that Yusuke thought that whole event was so insignificant he can't actually remember the details of it, and instead his memories are what he expects Botan would probably have said, whereas Botan remembers everything because it was a key event for her.

And finally, 17 chapters in, and I'm still in Demon World, I still haven't explained why Kuwabara and Yukina got married when they did, I still haven't (properly) addressed the issue of Hiei and Botan having a child, I still haven't brought the other people to the safe house and I still haven't explained the REAL reason Akira wears that collar…

I will get there eventually…


	18. Divisive Action

**Chapter 18 – Divisive Action**

"How are you feeling?"

Kuwabara, who was sitting in a rocking chair in the corner of the room with his wounded leg immersed in a sawn off barrel of healing fluid, turned to the agitated figure perched on the window at his side.

"I think he's talking to you," Akira whispered as Kuwabara looked his way.

Kuwabara turned back to Kurama, who waited patiently for him to answer.

"I'm fine," he said.

Kurama nodded. Clearly, Kuwabara was anything but fine, but he was surely being proud and probably also trying to appear brave in front of his impressionable son.

"Good," Kurama said. "I'm planning another little battle simulation for later today."

"Do you want me to leave the room?" Akira asked.

Kurama paused long enough to consider just how hollow Akira's offer had sounded before shaking his head.

"It's not a secret this time," he said. "I've told Fubuki and Kaisei about it too. And now I will tell you exactly what I told them: I have arranged for two fighters to come here for the simulation activity and, even though this is just a drill, I expect you to take it seriously and to make an effort to work as a team – which you will need to do in order to defeat your opponents this time."

"Okay."

There was something slightly odd about Akira's tone, but Kurama decided to dismiss it as concern for Kuwabara, who he had attached himself to ever since they had returned to the safe house.

"Are you fully rested and ready for another test?" Kurama asked him.

"Isn't the point of the test to catch us at a time when we might not be fully rested and ready to fight?" Akira asked.

"Don't be cheeky," Kuwabara muttered to him.

"I'm not being cheeky, I just don't really understand," Akira muttered back.

"I want to see you all performing at your best," Kurama said. "And you did pass out from over-exertion when we faced the flayer. If you don't feel that you are able to perform at the peak of your ability, I'm warning you now to go and see Yukina and have her heal any wounds you still have, or else get some rest."

"I'm fine," Akira said.

"I don't think you are," Kurama replied. "I think you're being stubborn or else you're just too proud to ask for help."

"It doesn't matter anyway," Akira said with a shrug. "As long as I have this, I'm always starting any battle with a major handicap."

He pointed at the collar around his neck.

"Then perhaps you should remove it," Kurama replied.

"No!" Akira and Kuwabara both said.

"The ability to take a lot of damage in a fight is admirable, but it's not really helpful or any sort of advantage in the fight we face," Kurama pointed out.

"Hey Tet, could you make me some tea?" Kuwabara said.

Akira slipped off the window frame but stopped there, glancing back and forth between Kuwabara and Kurama.

"Are you going to talk about me?" he asked.

"I need to talk to Kurama about something," Kuwabara answered. "But don't worry, you're not in trouble."

"So you are going to talk about me?" Akira asked. "Is this because I let mom heal me?"

"No, you're not in trouble, it's fine," Kuwabara assured him.

"Mom said it would be okay."

"It is okay."

"…Are you sure I'm not in trouble?"

"Yes, I promise."

Akira gave Kurama a brief, sceptical, glance, before nodding at Kuwabara and leaving the room. Once he was gone Kurama closed the door and moved over to lean against the wall at Kuwabara's side.

"So how are you really?" Kurama asked.

"I can't feel my leg below the knee," Kuwabara replied.

"Well, that's normal," Kurama assured him. "It seems to be regenerating nicely though."

"But really slowly," Kuwabara said.

"That's also normal," Kurama said.

"So, this test you're planning, who did you get? It's not Seaman and Gamesmaster again, right?"

"No. I'd rather not say who it is. I want to at least keep the identity of the opponents as a surprise for your students."

"Heh, they're kinda more like your students now, huh?"

"I suppose it does seem that way. But you've done well with them. I just wish they worked together a little better."

"Yeah, I guess sometimes Akira and Kaisei don't get along."

"Is there any particular reason for that?"

"Kaisei really likes conspiracy theories, and I think he thinks Akira is some kind of weird spy or something."

Kurama smiled.

"Yes, Kaisei has already shared with me his theory about Akira's behaviour being affected by the cycles of the moon," he said.

"Aw man, he's not still going on about that, is he?" Kuwabara groaned. "I don't get why Fubuki doesn't get mad when he starts talking that way."

"I think sometimes she does," Kurama replied. "She's certainly not backward at coming forward."

Kuwabara slowly looked up at Kurama from the corner of his eye.

"What?" Kurama asked him.

"I dunno, I'm just not sure this is the best time – you know, when the world might be about to end – for you to be chatting up girls," Kuwabara replied.

"I assure you, I am not chatting up Fubuki," Kurama said.

"Well maybe just wait until we've averted the apocalypse before you chase any more skirt."

Kurama gave Kuwabara a flat look and he grinned back.

"So how long is it gonna take for me to get back on my feet?" Kuwabara asked.

"If you keep your leg in the tank as long as you are awake and if Yukina keeps fussing over you the way she does, it shouldn't take much longer," Kurama replied. "However I suggest you continue letting Yukina tend to your leg for several days after the wound has closed over. But I shouldn't imagine you'll have any difficulty fulfilling that requirement."

"Hey, Yukina's my wife," Kuwabara replied defensively. "You're just ogling Fubuki."

"Alright now, let's not draw out this joke," Kurama patiently replied. "We wouldn't want anyone else to overhear and misunderstand."

"Nobody in this house misunderstands the way you've been checking her out."

Kuwabara grinned again and Kurama sighed. The fox demon was glad then when Shizuru entered the room carrying a tray of tea.

"Hey sis, it's not like you to do me any favours," Kuwabara commented as she placed the tray down on a side table beside him.

"Akira made the tea, but didn't want to come back in here to give it to you," Shizuru replied.

"Because he thinks we're talking about him?" Kurama asked.

"Pretty much," Shizuru replied.

She straightened up and gave Kurama a strange look – which was something he rarely saw her do – before continuing.

"You know, sometimes people don't show the best of themselves until they feel safe enough to," she said.

"That's true," Kurama replied. "I suppose none of us do unless we know we can trust other people."

"Exactly," Shizuru said.

"But trust a two-way street: if someone never reveals at least a part of their true self, they can't ever expect anyone else to do likewise."

"That's a really sensible and mature thing to say. But kids don't think sensibly or maturely."

Any doubt that Kurama may have had that Shizuru was indirectly referring to Akira vanished with her last remark.

"Yes, that's also true," he agreed.

"So maybe just remember that," Shizuru replied.

Kurama smiled.

"I remember the days when you were just the protective elder sister," he said. "And now it seems you're also the protective aunt."

Shizuru smiled back.

"Yeah, I guess I am a protective aunt," she said. "But not without good reason."

Kurama raised his eyebrows expectantly, hoping to finally get some sort of answer about Akira's past from someone who ought to know more about the boy than Kaisei or Fubuki appeared to: but instead Shizuru smirked and continued in a more light-hearted tone.

"Akira's mother would give a hard time if I wasn't."

Kuwabara laughed, but Kurama thought it quite an odd joke to make, given Yukina's gentle nature.

"Well, enjoy your tea," Shizuru said. "I have to go separate Keiko and Kaisei again."

"They're still arguing?" Kuwabara asked.

"Yeah, I can't even remember what it's about this time," Shizuru replied with a sigh. "Neither of them will admit if they're wrong, and they seem to disagree on everything we do. Last night's game of Trivial Pursuit was a complete disaster…"

Kurama smiled and nodded, remembering then how Keiko had answered that the Himalyan mountains were in India, and Kaisei had corrected her by telling her they were in fact on the border of India. After ten minutes of shouting at each other, Keiko had thrown the box of questions at Kaisei and he had gone out to start his guard shift early just to get away from her.

"Kai doesn't really seem to get how to speak to girls," Kuwabara commented.

"I don't have a problem with him," Shizuru replied.

"Yeah, but you're different," Kuwabara said.

"Because I'm not a girl?" Shizuru asked in a growl. "Chose your next words very carefully, little brother…"

"No," Kuwabara nervously replied. "I meant because you're scary."

"Wow, that's so much better," Shizuru sarcastically replied. "Just be thankful I'm feeling sorry for you right now, because otherwise I'd make it so that you needed to put your whole body in that barrel."

Kuwabara laughed nervously and Shizuru shook her head before leaving the room.

"Well, since you are progressing well, I shall leave you too," Kurama said, stepping away from the wall.

"I was kinda lonely, actually," Kuwabara muttered.

"I'm sure Yukina can't be far away," Kurama replied.

"I dunno, I haven't seen her all day."

Kurama thought that quite odd, but he had noticed that some of the residents of the safe house – primarily Kaisei and Fubuki – were quite messy and lazy and yet the house always looked immaculate, which surely meant that Yukina was rushing around tidying up after, feeding and cleaning for all the others.

"If I see her, I'll tell her to come and sit with you for a bit," Kurama said as he left the room.

He knew that Kuwabara probably wanted him to stay and talk, but he needed to set up the training session he had promised Kuwabara's three students: the two challengers he had arranged for them this time were likely to prove infinitely more demanding that Mitarai and Amanuma had.

* * *

Yusuke staggered back, inadvertently stepping on Jin's toes. Ordinarily he would have made a joke about how the wind demon should have gotten out of his way, but his attention was solely fixed on Yomi. Despite what Touya had suggested earlier about how he suspected that the Dark Force had taken over Enki, coming face-to-face with a powerful S-class demon actually under the influence of the enemy was still a shocking prospect. With Enki it had been easy to imagine that it might not be true or that something would happen to rid Enki of the evil before Yusuke and his team ever had to face him: but facing Yomi, with his clothes stained with his own son's blood, was something else entirely.

"That was a very quick change of heart."

Yusuke was unsure if Touya's remark was incredibly brave or ridiculously stupid.

"My son was my responsibility," Yomi replied.

"But you didn't want to kill him a minute ago!" Jin pointed out.

"I didn't want you to kill him," Yomi replied.

"So… You wanted to kill him yourself?" Yusuke asked.

"No, of course not," Yomi replied.

"Then why did you kill him?" Hiei asked.

"Because there was no other way," Yomi replied. "If I wanted to appear honourable, I could tell you that I did it to weaken the Dark Force, to slow the spread of its influence and to save the lives of everyone in this room: but none of those thoughts crossed my mind. I did it because he was my son, he was a proud man and I know he must have been suffering greatly to be under the control of that shameless beast."

"Still, that can't have been an easy decision for you to make," Touya ventured.

"Of course not," Yomi replied. "But this isn't the time for letting emotion rule over common sense. If I had let myself over-think the decision and tortured myself with the thought of what I must do, I would only have empowered the enemy."

"The Yomi I know wouldn't take the death of his own son lightly," Touya said carefully. "Not even if he had made the decision to take his son's life himself."

"I'm not taking this lightly," Yomi harshly responded. "I'm just controlling myself before something else does."

"Seems like a strange thing that the Dark Force would kill an S-class demon that it already had under its control," Jin said. "But then again, the Dark Force is a tricky bastard, and maybe doin' somethin' none of us would expect is just the sorta trick someone controlled by the Dark Force might pull."

"Are you suggesting I am being controlled by the Dark Force right now?" Yomi asked him.

"Surely you can appreciate our hesitancy," Touya hurriedly pointed out. "After all, if the Dark Force was already strong enough to take control of Shura and so many of your men, it's not beyond the scope of belief that it has made a try for your soul too."

"Look around you: I have nothing left," Yomi replied. "I've never fallen to the Dark Force before, and I certainly haven't done so this time. I have no reason to lie to you."

"You wouldn't know if you were lyin' to us if you were bein' controlled by the Dark Force," Jin pointed out.

"Are the five of you all that remains of the resistance?" Yomi asked. "Let me join you. This has escalated rapidly and you can't hold it back without more allies."

"Well that was what we came here for, right?" Yusuke asked, looking around the others.

Chu, Jin and Touya looked confused, but Hiei looked sure of himself – which in that moment, Yusuke found quite reassuring.

"It's simple," Hiei said. "Yomi is right that there's nothing left here, and we need to move on to find allies."

"Yes," Yomi agreed. "I will accompany you."

"No you won't," Hiei promptly replied.

Yusuke frowned, any confidence he had felt starting to fade.

"We can't trust you," Hiei continued. "Nor can we trust him."

Hiei shamelessly pointed his sword at Jin, who looked as horrified as Yusuke felt.

"So here's what's going to happen," Hiei said as he lowered his sword to his side again. "Yusuke, Touya, Chu and I are going to continue on to recruit help and to fight the enemy wherever and whenever we encounter it. Yomi and Jin will remain here. Once we have recruited enough allies, we will return. If you are both still here when we get back, we will allow you to join us."

"I don't get it," Yusuke interrupted. "What's the point of making them stay here?"

"Because if they are puppets of the enemy, they won't stay here," Hiei flatly replied. "They will either try to follow us to sabotage our mission or else they will move out looking for more victims. If they are innocent, they will wait here and hold this temple until we return."

"Hold it?" Yusuke echoed. "I thought we all just agreed there's nothing left of it!"

"But it still represents the station of one of Demon World's most powerful beings and as long as it is defended, it shows that Demon World is not yet defeated," Hiei replied.

Yusuke looked up at Yomi and then over his shoulder at Jin: the first looked quite blank and the second looked worried.

"What do you guys think about that?" he asked them.

"I don't think we should be splittin' the group again," Jin said. "I was wrong to leave ahead with Suzuka the way I did."

"Did you know that Suzuka is dead?" Hiei asked him.

Jin solemnly nodded his head, and in that moment, it occurred to Yusuke that he might be about to leave his friend alone with Yomi, who might be an agent of their enemy.

"I will wait here if that is what it takes to gain your trust," Yomi offered. "But time is of the essence, and I will not wait here unnecessarily. If you have not returned within one week, I will set out to recruit my own allies without you."

"That's fair enough," Hiei agreed.

"It is?" Yusuke yelped.

"Yes," Hiei insisted. "Let's go."

"Wait!"

Yusuke was shocked to see that Touya and Chu had actually started to move when Hiei had beckoned for them to leave with him – too many radical decisions were being made too quickly by the group, and he was still not sure that leaving Jin with Yomi was a good idea.

"Shouldn't one more of us stay here?" he asked. "That's what you said, right Touya? Never split the group into a group of less than three members, right? You said a group with just two members was a bad idea, so we can't leave Yomi and Jin back here alone."

Touya gave Yusuke an almost sympathetic look and Yusuke began to suspect that the rest of his team had been strategising without him at some point, presumably because they thought him too naïve to appreciate their demon mentality.

"Yusuke, we have reason to suspect them as being unsafe and untrustworthy," the ice demon explained. "And as such, they no longer are a part of our group. We're not choosing to split the group in this instance."

Yusuke turned to Chu, hoping that at least he would agree with him that what Touya was saying sounded insane: but he looked resigned to acceptance. Yusuke looked at Yomi again – who looked odd, though that could be because he was being controlled by another being or because he had just killed his only son – and felt that it probably was logical to not take the former ruler of one third of Demon World into their number just yet. He then looked over at Jin and felt that walking away from his old friend was a bad idea. Jin was clearly fine and leaving him behind would surely only endanger him in exactly the way the team had agreed they would not do to each other again after learning the hard way from their mistake with Shishiwakamaru.

"Come on Yusuke," Hiei said.

Yusuke swallowed back his overwhelming urge to turn the situation into a shouting match and instead nodded once at Yomi and then turned one last time to Jin.

"We're coming back for you, okay?" he said. "Just hold on for one week, okay?"

Jin nodded and Yusuke reluctantly moved over to join the others. The remaining four members of the original team of eight continued outside in silence, only stopping once they were beyond the boundaries of Yomi's temple grounds.

"From here we need to make our next choices very carefully," Touya began. "We have very limited time. Within this next week, we must–"

"Well maybe some dumbass shouldn't have set us a one-week time limit!" Yusuke interrupted.

"I didn't set the one-week time limit for us," Touya pointed out.

"I know that," Yusuke replied, before purposefully moving his eyes to glare at Hiei.

"What are you looking at me for?" Hiei sneered.

"You've been making this whole mission way harder than it has to be!" Yusuke snapped.

"On the contrary, I have been trying to deal with things simply and swiftly and it is you who has been hindering our progress by over-complicating every little decision we've been faced with!" Hiei snapped back.

"Bickering only wastes yet more time that we can ill afford to spare," Touya said firmly. "With one week at our disposal, if we don't sleep, we should just about manage to visit both Alaric and Tourin, but we would only have time to visit one specific location in each region. In order to maximise our likelihood of recruiting strong allies, we should agree upon and target those two locations right here and right now."

"Obviously the first thing we should do is visit Mukuro," Hiei suggested. "Her army maybe don't outnumber Yomi's, but they do outclass them: they won't have fallen prey to the enemy the way the men here all did."

"Oh yeah that's a great idea," Yusuke sarcastically replied. "Let's go see Mukuro. Hey Hiei, are you gonna tell her how you cut down one of your own friends without even stopping long enough to breathe before you acted?"

"Do you have a better idea for where we should go first?" Hiei asked him.

"Yeah I do, as a matter of fact," Yusuke replied. "I say the first place we go is my place."

"And why exactly would we do that?"

"Maybe because there are plenty of strong guys back there who could help us, and we know we can trust them!"

"Are you suggesting that we can't trust Mukuro or her army?"

"We came here thinking we could trust Yomi, and look how well that went!"

"Hn."

"And besides…"

Yusuke sighed and turned his head away, but, even turned away, he could see Hiei on the edge of his vision, his red eyes pinpricked and glaring at him, his entire body taut and faintly glowing in evident rage.

"Don't leave that statement hanging, Yusuke," Hiei said in a low voice. "If you have something you want to say, you better say it to me right now."

"Why, because if I don't say it right now I'll be made to say it later, after the Dark Force takes me over?" Yusuke asked sarcastically.

"I didn't say the Dark Force would take control of you," Hiei replied. "But if you keep up this melodramatic behaviour, you will become a prime target to be exploited and possibly controlled by the Dark Force."

"Oh, so you do think I'm gonna join the bad guys, huh?"

"I didn't say that!"

"You might as well have!"

"I could say the same to you! The real reason you don't want to go to Mukuro first is because you don't trust me not to defect to the dark side!"

"You've been talking about joining "the dark side" since the first day we met up for this dumb mission!"

"Mates, come on, you gotta stop this!" Chu interrupted.

"Indeed, this petty bickering is counter-productive to our mission and laying us wide open to attack," Touya agreed.

"Aren't the two of you good mates too?" Chu asked, looking back and forth between Hiei and Yusuke.

"We were," Yusuke moodily replied.

"I haven't changed," Hiei grumbled.

"The hell you haven't…" Yusuke muttered.

"Can we at least agree on the direction we take from here?" Touya pressed. "Once we've done that, we can all discuss this disagreement on our journey there."

"Fine. We're going to my place," Yusuke said stubbornly.

"Waste of time, if you ask me," Hiei snorted.

Yusuke turned to glare at him and, as though to really wind him up, Hiei smirked a lop-sided, condescending smirk as their eyes met.

"But if wasting time is something we all want to do then yes, let's go visit Yusuke's friends," he said.

"At least I have friends," Yusuke growled at him.

"Chu, are you happy for us to proceed to Yusuke's tower?" Touya asked Chu.

"Absolutely," Chu replied.

Touya nodded and he and Chu started out, with Yusuke and Hiei falling in line behind them.

"You're being incredibly petty about this," Hiei said.

"And you're not?" Yusuke snorted.

"I don't understand why you're taking everything so personally," Hiei replied. "You've changed. Under the circumstances, that could be construed as suspicious."

"You're the one that's changed," Yusuke shot back. "Or went back to your old ways, depending on how you look at it."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean lately, you've been acting like that arrogant little bastard I fought against to recover the Artefacts of Darkness."

"I think the stress of our situation is getting the better of you both," Touya said, looking over his shoulder at Yusuke and Hiei. "Once we get to Yusuke's tower, I suggest we all eat, get some sleep and pack supplies before we move on again. We'll all feel much better after a rest and with our number increased again."

"I guess you're right," Yusuke agreed.

"I'll feel better with people I can trust around me," Hiei added.

Yusuke turned to glare at him.

"Meaning you don't trust us?" he asked.

"No, but there was nobody we could trust amongst Yomi's men," Hiei replied.

Yusuke was sure that Hiei had lied to placate him, but he tried to push the thought aside. Hiei was really getting on his nerves, but he tried to believe that what Touya had said was correct: they were all just feeling under pressure because they had lost three members of their team and could potentially lose a fourth if Jin was not still at Yomi's temple when they returned for him.

* * *

Kurama made one last scan of the temple lawn before assuring himself that he had suitably prepared the training session he had planned. There had been no more calls or unusual disturbances since the house fire – or none that had been reported in any way – which had allowed him plenty of time to set something up. It was early evening and the sun was sitting just at the treetops, casting long shadows across the lawn, but as it was still summer time, the air was still and warm. Were it not for the pending Dark Age, it could have been a wonderful evening: but as it was, it was an evening that marked the end of the last day of rehearsals. The following morning, Kurama and the others would be gathering up their nominated persons to move to the safe house.

Kurama had not yet told his mother that he intended to move her out of her home. He had not yet fully planned out how he would explain to her that he needed to take her away from her husband, but he was confident that he could think of something. Getting her there would be far less problematic than keeping her there – something that had already proved to be the case with Keiko and Shizuru, despite both of them being fully aware of why they were at the safe house. With every attack, Keiko panicked and called her parents to check that they were safe. Kurama did not grudge her making multiple phone calls, he just hoped that, once all the others were gathered at the house, phone calls did not turn into rogue excursions back home. Herding the non-fighters around could end up becoming the bulk of the workload for whoever was on guard duty at the safe house.

When Kurama saw a rugged face nodding his head, he knew that the last of his plan had been put into place and it was time to let the three trainees out. He climbed back up the porch steps and opened the door, finding all three of them there waiting for him already. He opened the door wider and stepped aside, indicating for them to move on ahead of him. Kuwabara was still inside the temple – Kurama had excused him from taking part in the training session as it was precious time he needed to spend healing his leg – and, although he had not actually seen her, Kurama assumed that Yukina was with Kuwabara.

As Kurama closed the door again he saw Kaisei signalling to Fubuki and Akira, and, despite his initial concerns that they would not work together, Akira took the lead to go out on scouting duty and Fubuki and Kaisei both slowly descended the porch steps, moving out in opposite directions. Kurama sat down on the top step and watched carefully at the temporarily serene scene ahead of him. He had planted a few basic demon plants to test the three students, but the biggest challenge for them by far would be their two opponents – who Kurama knew he had been very lucky to secure for the evening. He doubted any of the three – not even Kaisei and Fubuki, who had extensive battle experience – would be prepared for what awaited them and, individually, they would not stand a chance against even one of their opponents. They would have to work together – which was something Kurama had already discussed with the two challengers. He had explained to them that he had concerns about Kaisei, Fubuki and Akira and their inability to work together, and he had specifically agreed with the two challengers that they would target this area during the training session by creating situations that would force the three to rally together.

Kurama frowned slightly as he sensed a quite remarkable burst of energy from somewhere to his right, deep within the forest beyond the limits of the temple gardens. It was presumably a part of the simulation exercise however, and, correspondingly, Kaisei and Fubuki started off towards it, shortly finding themselves having to tackle some of the plants Kurama had left waiting for them. As they became fully engrossed fighting off and pushing through the plants, Kurama saw Akira return to the centre of the lawn and start to follow them: but something was amiss. He looked as though he was panicking, which contradicted his attitude to the previous training session, which he had dismissed as insignificant. He was running, but really only at a human pace, and even that appeared to be a strain for him as he was sweating and out of breath already. Kurama felt the two challengers approaching, surprised to find them drawing in from his left, after he had distinctly felt the energy surge that must have been intended as their foil come from so very far to his right. They were moving so quickly, they effortlessly caught up to Akira: and at that point, what had started out as an odd situation rapidly deteriorated into a disastrous one.

The first SDF officer landed in front of Akira, who halted so abruptly, he almost fell right over. The second landed behind Akira, who glanced back and forth between them fearfully. Kurama had only ever seen the entire Spirit World Special Defence Force once before – when they had been on hand to kill Yusuke after his fight against Sensui – but he was sure that the two officers they had despatched in response to his request for assistance in setting up a battle simulation were the physically largest Spirit World had at their disposal. Standing between the two of them, Akira looked impossibly small, and, as one had his back to the sun, his large shadow fully engulfed the little emiko, making him look all the more insignificant. Several seconds passed, but Akira remained cowered on the spot, looking back and forth between the two soldiers. The moment only ended when one of the officers made a strange gesture with his hand and Akira turned to fully face him, standing up straight with his arms at his sides. Although he was still clearly anxious, Akira seemed to be forcing himself to relax physically. Kurama started to wonder if what he was witnessing was a demonstration of the weird relationship the boy appeared to have with Spirit World – maybe this was why he had wanted a communication mirror so badly, to keep in touch with his allies there – although whether he was friend or foe to the SDF was as big a mystery as why he was wearing a prison issue collar.

What happened next shocked Kurama so badly, he was temporarily overcome. The SDF officer facing Akira drew back a clenched fist – in a manner that was almost mockingly slow – and then swung a punch forwards, his fist connecting with one side of Akira's face. Having made no attempt to block the blow or even defend against it in any way, Akira was thrown to the ground, whereupon the officer behind him kicked him in the ribs, flipping him over in the air. The two officers then moved in and began shamelessly beating Akira, who continued to do absolutely nothing to defend himself or retaliate. Kurama was well aware of how much damage the boy could sustain, but he was also aware that Akira never took a hit without at least making an attempt to deflect it or else to defend the vulnerable areas of his body. Kurama stood up and made to go over to break up what was happening, but by the time he was on his feet, Fubuki had arrived at the scene and delivered a vicious dropkick to the back of the nearest SDF soldier. As she made to launch another attack on him he turned a hand towards her, sending out a blast of energy that threw her off her feet. She took a moment to shake herself off, but in that moment Kaisei leapt into the fray, attempting to engage the other SDF officer in a fistfight. Again the officer Kaisei faced threw him off with a single energy blast – proving to Kurama that the soldiers were indeed significantly stronger than any of the three students facing them – but both officers then immediately returned to attacking Akira, who was still doing nothing to stop them.

Fubuki and Kaisei joined together and began charging their energy to launch a signature attack they had already demonstrated to Kurama in his first meeting with them: and although it would have been enough to prove a challenge to the two SDF officers, the time they took to charge it proved to be a major disadvantage, as they were knocked down again before they could gather even half the energy they needed to launch the blast. Fubuki got back up and leapt onto the back of one of the soldiers, logical strategy apparently forgotten, and she began punching and kicking at him frantically. Kaisei stood up and paused, but only briefly, before attempting to copy his sister's ill-planned tactic. Both Sato siblings ultimately ended up on the ground again, with Kaisei being knocked out and Fubuki standing up again only to stumble and drop to her knees.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she yelled at the SDF soldiers as they carried on attacking Akira. "He's just a little kid, you assholes!"

When Fubuki collapsed, facedown, onto the lawn, Kurama started down the steps with the intention of intervening, since the SDF soldiers were showing no sign of stopping their assault on Akira, who, without even gathering enough energy to defend himself, would not last long under the constant barrage he was suffering. But, before he had even halved the distance between the porch and the location of the fight, Kurama stopped abruptly as a blast of cold air swept past him and one of the SDF officers was suddenly thrown through the air, landing far beyond where Kaisei and Fubuki still lay unconscious. The second officer had paused to look about himself for what had happened – something Kurama himself was doing as there was no apparent source for the attack – and when both turned back to Akira, as if she had teleported out of thin air, Yukina was suddenly standing over the emiko, glaring up at the SDF officer.

For a protracted moment in time, nothing and no-one moved.

Then, very shakily, Akira pushed himself up to his knees and grabbed at Yukina's kimono, bunching up the fabric and staring up at her fearfully.

"Please," he said. "Please stay out of this."

Yukina ignored him, keeping her eyes firmly fixed on the man in front of her, maintaining her stance despite the fact that he was easily twice her height, four times her weight and infinitely more powerful than she was. The SDF soldier gradually got over his initial shock and regained his focus, grabbed a handful of Yukina's kimono just below her throat: but before he could say or do anything else, Kurama dashed forwards and grabbed a hand around the wrist of his hand holding onto Yukina. Yukina continued to glare up at the officer, who was looking down at Kurama.

"Apparently there has been a misunderstanding here," Kurama said carefully. "Why don't we all step back and go indoors to discuss this?"

"I don't take orders from demons," the SDF soldier replied.

He glared at Kurama for a moment before glaring at Yukina and then finally leaning his head slightly to one side to leer down at Akira.

"Or monsters," he added as Akira came into his line of sight.

"We are all allies here," Kurama reminded him. "And the only ones who have used excessive force or behaved inappropriately are you and your colleague."

The SDF officer looked at something beyond Yukina and, when he held that stance, Kurama followed the direction he was looking, seeing the second SDF officer staggering towards them, one hand clutched to one side of his face.

He had bloody wounds on his chest and forearms, but by far the worst was the openly bleeding wound to one side of his head.

"What happened, Shun-Jun?" the officer by Kurama called over to him.

"I don't know…" he replied. "Something hit me – I didn't see what it was – it disappeared as quickly as it appeared."

The SDF officer by Kurama turned to look at him again.

"We're the only ones using excessive force and behaving inappropriately, huh?" he asked.

Kurama looked over the injured soldier again: none of the plants he had placed were capable of inflicting such wounds, least of all to being as powerful as an officer of the SDF. Akira had been on the ground and Fubuki and Kaisei had both been unconscious when the soldier had been attacked.

Something very strange was going on.

* * *

**Next Chapter: **In the aftermath of the awry training session, Akira goes missing. Kurama manages to track him down, whereupon Kurama finally starts to gain some understanding of who and what Akira really is. Meanwhile, in DW, Hiei reveals to Yusuke why he feels so much animosity towards him – and Yusuke is as confused as he is horrified by what he hears. The team then find more cryptic messages from the Dark Force. **Chapter 19 – Ticking Tyke Bomb**

**A/N:** So many feels in the next chapter. Some back-story too though and some loose ends should start to tie up.

Seriously, the next chapter is like an excerpt from the Chapter Black video.


	19. Ticking Tyke Bomb

**Chapter 19 – Ticking Tyke Bomb**

Kurama looked about the lawn. Fubuki was hauling up her still semi-conscious brother, Shizuru was giving a reassuring hug to Keiko on the porch, the two SDF officers were talking between themselves about the state one of them had been left in after a mysterious attack and Yukina was kneeling by Akira, who looked panicked again. Deciding that Yukina would probably help Akira to heal the wounds he now had and that the SDF officers were best left alone for the time being, Kurama jogged over to help the Sato siblings. Fubuki had pulled one of Kaisei's arms around her shoulders and stood up, supporting his weight at her side. Kurama lifted Kaisei's other arm around his shoulders and smiled at Fubuki as she looked over at him.

"I can walk, you guys," Kaisei said, his voice slurred and his head nodding as he spoke.

"Yes, I'm sure you can," Kurama replied. "But let us help you, for now."

Kurama waited expectantly for Fubuki to crack a joke about her brother's condition as they started towards the porch, and when one did not come after some time, he looked over at her again, finding her looking oddly agitated.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'll be fine," Kaisei answered.

Kurama helped Fubuki sit Kaisei down onto the porch steps, where Shizuru crouched down at his side.

"Bring me a coffee," he said to her.

"You don't look so good," Shizuru said to him.

"I'll be fine once you bring me a coffee," he replied.

Shizuru slapped him over the back of the head and he cried out and glared at her.

"Oh, you felt that, huh?" she asked. "Then you'll be fine. And you can get your own damn coffee."

She stood up again and Kurama turned to Fubuki, finding her hugging her arms around herself, her head lowered.

"Are you okay?" he asked again, this time hoping that she would realise he was talking to her.

She shook her head.

"Are you hurt?" he asked, touching a hand to her shoulder.

"Not so much physically," she muttered. "I just… I can't believe how stupid they just made us look…"

She turned her head from him and Kurama realised then exactly what was wrong with her: clearly growing up fighting low level demons all her life, it had been a number of years since Fubuki had encountered an opponent ridiculously stronger than she was, and apparently the biggest wound she had suffered was the one to her pride.

"Go on inside with the others," Kurama told her. "I'll join you all shortly."

Shizuru and Keiko moved on ahead inside and Fubuki helped her brother to his feet again, holding his arm as he stumbled his way indoors. Kurama then turned back to the lawn and found the two SDF officers still talking between themselves where he had left them and Yukina standing, on her own, at the point she had been kneeling at with Akira moments earlier. Kurama started towards Yukina, but something about the look on her face made him change course and opt to approach the Spirit World soldiers first.

"I think we should talk," Kurama told them.

"There's nothing to talk about," the uninjured soldier replied. "Look at what that little monster did to Shun-Jun."

Kurama took a moment to look at Shun-Jun's injuries. He had several narrow, closely aligned gouges out of his chest and forearms, but the bloody wound on his head was simply too bloody to be discernible. They were not the type of wounds an emiko would typically inflict on an enemy, and they were certainly not the type of wounds an emiko of Akira's class could be capable of inflicting upon an SDF officer.

"Akira did that to you?" Kurama asked Shun-Jun.

"Of course it did!" Shun-Jun replied. "It's an animal, it should have been eliminated years ago!"

"Akira is here by order of Lord Koenma," Kurama pointed out.

"Yeah, but Koenma doesn't have jurisdiction over King Enma," Shun-Jun said. "And it's King Enma we take our orders from."

"And King Enma's orders were pretty clear," the uninjured officer added. "He told us – and he said the same rule applies to you and everybody else on your team – that if that little monster is killed in friendly fire, that would be fine. No questions asked."

"I'm sure something has been misunderstood," Kurama said carefully. "Because I can't imagine King Enma suggesting that the team he assembled should turn on one of its members."

"King Enma didn't recruit that monster onto the team," Shun-Jun said.

"That "monster" does have a name, you know," Kurama reminded him.

"It does?" Shun-Jun asked.

"It's called Tatsuo or Tetsuo, isn't it?" the uninjured officer replied.

Kurama paused upon once more hearing that name. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Yukina slowly making her way towards the porch steps, but no trace of Akira.

"Let's go inside and discuss this," he said, turning back to the SDF soldiers.

"No, I think we're done here," the uninjured soldier replied.

"I'm not done with that little beast yet," Shun-Jun grumbled.

"We need to get you back to get you healed up," his colleague reminded him. "We've got problems in Spirit World too, we don't have time to play games with demons here in this world."

"I would have thought that ensuring the living world was protected was high on your list of priorities," Kurama said.

"It is," the uninjured soldier said. "And that's why we're leaving."

Kurama could see no real reason to delay their departure, and since they had apparently only agreed to participate in the training session as an excuse to attack Akira, he stepped back and let them leave. Once they were out of sight, Kurama hurried back towards the temple, reaching the door at the same moment as Yukina.

"Where's Akira?" he asked her.

"Akira doesn't want to be here right now," she replied, giving him a look that was almost as stern as the one she had been giving to the SDF officers. "And I think you should respect that after what you just did."

"I didn't know that would happen," Kurama pointed out.

Yukina gave him a strange look before starting to move on again.

"Yukina, I didn't know that would happen," he said again.

She stopped, just beyond the threshold, but did not turn around.

"I don't know why there is such animosity between Akira and Spirit World," he added. "Though you should know that it's very dangerous for you to attempt to interfere in a fight like you did tonight."

"Family is very important to me," Yukina said, still facing away from Kurama as she spoke.

"I appreciate that," Kurama assured her. "But you have to trust that Akira can fend for himself. If that had been an actual enemy, you would be dead by now."

"And so would Akira."

Kurama opened his mouth, but words actually failed him. Yukina moved on, leaving him alone and more confused than ever. It seemed that the only person who ever gave direct answers about anything was Akira himself, and so Kurama set out to find him.

However, as Kurama quickly realised, finding Akira was no easy task. With the collar on, even if he made no effort to hide his presence, it was reduced to minimal, and clearly he did not want to be found at that time. There were no traces of footprints to indicate the direction he had gone – which was probably only to be expected of a trained ninja – but he had been quite badly wounded and realistically could not have gone too far. Out of desperation, Kurama first went to a hollow tree he knew Hiei often hid in when he had come to the living world to spy on Yukina: but he found no trace of Akira there. The evening was passing and the sun was falling lower in the sky, making the woods quite dark. After almost an hour of searching, Kurama moved to a small clearing on a westward slope that was still illuminated by the setting sun, with the intention of stopping there to formulate a plan.

But, as he neared the clearing, Kurama started to hear a quite pitiful noise that told him he had just inadvertently found Akira.

Kurama silently crept through the undergrowth before quietly sitting down at the foot of a tree, resting his back against the trunk, facing away from the clearing, back into the forest. On the other side of the tree he heard Akira desperately trying to contain his sobbing. He waited patiently for Akira to either acknowledge his presence or else flee, deciding that doing so was the best first step to gaining his trust. After about a minute, Akira snivelled one last time and then something landed on the ground at Kurama's side. He looked down to see the communication mirror Akira had been so eager to take from him before.

"Why are you giving this back to me?" he asked. "Do you no longer have a need for it?"

"No," Akira quietly replied.

"Did you acquire your own communicator?" Kurama asked.

"No," Akira answered.

"Then you should hold onto my one."

"I don't want it."

"Why not?"

"I just don't."

"Okay."

Kurama picked up the communication mirror and slid it into his shirt pocket.

"Why did you come after me?" Akira asked.

"I wanted to be sure that you were alright," Kurama lied. "Those SDF officers were hitting you hard enough to kill you."

"Well I'm fine," Akira stubbornly replied.

"I thought it odd that the SDF officers – who are our allies in this war – would want to cause you harm," Kurama said carefully.

"They don't like me."

"They said some unusual things about you."

"So?"

"Well, they presented a very powerful argument that you are not welcome in Spirit World or as a part of our team. I wondered what you might have to say about that."

"I'm not allowed to talk about it."

"That's unfortunate, because I know that what the men of the SDF told me about you is not true, and I would have liked to hear your opinion on the matter."

"How do you know they're not telling the truth?"

"Because any story told as vehemently as they told theirs is always coloured by the opinion of the orator. I know something is missing from what they've told me, but I can't figure out what."

Kurama waited through a short silence, hoping that Akira would respond to his opening and start talking; but when the silence finally did end, he did not receive the answer he had been hoping for.

"I'm not allowed to talk about it."

Kurama paused, in the hope that Akira might open up: but he remained frustratingly silent.

"The SDF have never been big fans of mine, either," Kurama tried. "In fact, one of the officers who arrived here this evening was responsible for dealing me the mortal blow that relegated me to my human life."

"Shun-Jun."

Kurama allowed himself a curious frown, since Akira could not see his face anyway.

"You're familiar with the SDF officers by name?" he asked.

"Yes," Akira replied. "The other one here today was Rinbai."

"Yes, that's correct," Kurama confirmed.

When Akira said no more, Kurama returned to his previous tactic in the hope that it might encourage Akira to talk more.

"The SDF were also very against Yusuke," he said. "They dislike demons beyond all reasoning: for them there is no possibility of a demon being good."

"They dislike half-demons even more," Akira quietly replied.

"Yes, that's probably true," Kurama agreed. "They certainly despise Yusuke."

"And me," Akira offered.

"It's terrible that they hate you and Yusuke just because of what you are and not who you are."

"Is it different in Demon World?"

"No. The SDF hate demons no matter where they encounter them. In fact, they encountered me in Demon World, in the sector that was once owned and controlled by Spirit World–"

"No, that's not what I meant."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"I meant are half-demons hated in Demon World too? My mom said maybe I should have lived in Demon World all along. She said maybe I would have had a better life."

"Do you think you would have preferred to live in Demon World?"

"I guess maybe I would have. But not if it meant I couldn't live with my mother. If mom could come and live in Demon World with me, then I'd definitely want to go there."

"Demon World is quite a demanding place. When a newcomer, like yourself, first arrives, all manners of creatures will hunt you down looking to test their skill against you in combat."

"I know that. That's what happened the day my mom took me to Demon World."

Kurama had not expected the conversation to take the direction it had, and although he had not intended to discuss Demon World with Akira, his curiosity was peaked about Akira's visit to Demon World.

"Why did your mother take you to Demon World?" he asked. "Was it to meet your ancestors in the ice village?"

"No," Akira replied. "I guess I'd like to meet my ancestors from the ice village, but that wasn't why mom took me there that day. She took me there to meet Hiei."

"Ah yes," Kurama said, nodding his head. "You did say before that you had met Hiei once before."

"I'm not really sure it counts as meeting him," Akira dully replied. "All that really happened was that he tried to kill me."

"I can't imagine that."

"Well it's true. I'm not supposed to talk about it, but I don't understand why. I mean, if Hiei hadn't tried to kill me, the SDF would never have…"

Akira sniffed sharply and stayed quiet for some time: but Kurama waited patiently, determined to find out where his story was leading.

"It was so stupid," he eventually continued. "It was all just so stupid. Hiei tried to kill me, my mom tried to save me and the next thing I knew, I was in prison in Spirit World."

"You were arrested for visiting Demon World?" Kurama asked.

"No…"

Akira sounded as though he was starting to cry again, and, as much as he was loathe to cause the child any more suffering, Kurama was determined to hear what he had to say.

"Then why?" he asked.

"They said I killed three people."

Kurama waited for Akira to continue, and again, when he did, it was not in the way Kurama had expected him to.

"Oh, and also I was accused of inciting tension between Spirit World and Demon World, because Mukuro complained to Koenma that mom and I were in a restricted area of Demon World."

"I see. So… Why did Hiei attack you?"

"I don't know. I always wanted to go meet him, and my mom would always make up an excuse for why I couldn't. All my life, she told me he was this really brave soldier who worked on the Border Patrol of Demon World, and that his job was so important, he basically worked every day, and that was why I couldn't ever see him. But when I got a bit older, I started thinking if he couldn't come to see me, why couldn't I go to see him? I started pestering my mom about it until we had a really big fight about it and she promised me that if I still wanted to go see him on my tenth birthday, she'd take me to go see him in Demon World. I guess she thought I'd forget about it, but I didn't. I was so excited about it, I didn't sleep for days before my tenth birthday. And then when the day came, everyone had a big party for me, but I didn't even care – I guess I was a bit of a brat that day – because I didn't even notice any of it. I just asked my mom when we were going to Demon World."

"So you went to Demon World on your tenth birthday? Was that… Four years ago?"

Kurama found it hard to believe that Akira could be fourteen years old, but, as a half-demon, he possibly matured slower than a human; and perhaps his shorter stature and softer voice were just inherited traits from his mother that made him appear younger than he was.

"Yeah," Akira confirmed. "That was the day I met Hiei for the first time – well, not exactly met Hiei… We were on a long road called High Road – my mom said it was the best place to meet the Border Patrol guards. We were attacked by some of the dragon fish – that was how I knew when we met them in that creepy forest that I had to use my demon energy to kill them, I'd tried attacking them with spirit energy when I encountered them in Demon World, but it wasn't strong or fast enough. I was scared I would hurt my mom, so I told her to get out of the way. I used my demon energy – the black flames – to kill the dragon fish, but then I heard my mom screaming, and when I looked up, there was a huge black dragon flying right at me."

"The Dragon of the Darkness Flame?"

"Yeah, that's what mom called it too. Anyway, it was heading right for me, but mom pushed me out of the way. She fell in front of it and… I-I don't remember what happened next!"

"Okay. Can you remember anything from around that time?"

"I remember waking up in a Spirit World prison cell. I had a collar on – just like the one they make me wear now – and I was cold and hungry. When they found out I woke up, they took me to Lord Koenma's office, and Lord Koenma and Captain Ootake – he's the leader of the SDF – they asked me to explain what I'd done, but I didn't understand. I asked to see my mom and they told me I wasn't allowed to see her."

Akira had started crying again, though not as forcefully as he had been when Kurama had first found him.

"Then Master Ken came in."

"Who's Master Ken?"

"He was my teacher. He helped train the SDF. He taught me everything I know about ninjutsu. He was the best teacher ever, I loved learning from him. He taught me for seven years. I trusted him. I thought he'd come to make it all stop."

"What happened next? Can you remember?"

"Yes… Master Ken said they should recreate the situation, and I didn't know what that meant, but he made them take the collar off me and he told me to go with him, and I trusted him and I thought he was taking me home to my mom… But then… He took me to a room with a glass wall, and Lord Koenma and Captain Ootake and some other people were standing on the other side of the glass…"

Akira's story was starting to sound like the sort of content Kurama had always imagined he might find on the Chapter Black video.

"They locked me into the room with Master Ken. He started telling me I had to tell the truth about what I'd done, but I didn't know what I'd done! He said I'd killed three people, but I didn't know what he was talking about! Then he… He slapped me across the face… It was the way he did it, he was trying to insult me… He called me a monster and a freak… He said King Enma would kill me and send me to a horrible place for all eternity for what I'd done, but I didn't know what I was supposed to have done! I kept apologising. I hated making him mad at me, I hated letting him down and I just wanted him to stop looking at me that way and talking to me that way."

Akira paused to snivel for a little while before continuing again.

"Then he called my mother a whore."

Kurama's face dropped.

"He said she was dirty and that was why I was a monster. He said that after King Enma killed me and sent me somewhere horrible, he would punish my mother for ever having me… And then… Something really weird happened… I… Felt something… And then I don't remember what happened… But… It was like… Like I passed out or left my body for a few minutes, and when I came back to my conscious self I was… I was standing over Master Ken, and he was dead, and there was blood everywhere, and it was all over me and all over the walls and it wouldn't stop! I washed my hands so many times, but I could still see blood in the creases of the palms of my hands and I could still smell it in my hair!"

"Is that why you cover your hands?"

"Yes… And it's why I pulled out all my hair. I just wanted it to stop!"

Kurama nodded, even though Akira could not see him.

"So then they put the collar on me – the one I'm wearing now – and they put me back into prison," Akira continued. "They said I was to be executed for killing four people – including Master Ken – but then they found out the Dark Age was starting, and Koenma said I could be useful as a weapon against the Dark Force. The SDF said I was too dangerous, but they agreed that I could join the fight if I could survive training with the SDF for two years."

"You trained with the SDF for two years?"

"I wouldn't call it training. I wasn't allowed to hit back or defend myself. I'm still not allowed to."

"So that's why you let Shun-Jun and Rinbai assault you today?"

"They said if I hit back or if I try to protect myself, they'll hurt my mom."

Kurama sighed softly.

"I wish you'd told me this so much sooner," he said.

"I don't," Akira replied. "I'm ashamed of it. And I hate crying in front of other people, and you already saw me crying at the creepy forest!"

"I won't tell anyone that we even had this conversation. I promise you that."

"I'll tell my mom. I tell her everything. But please don't tell anyone – not even my mom – that I was crying."

"You have my word."

"Especially don't tell Kaisei, or he'll just make another dumb remark about me PMSing again – he's such an insensitive jerk…"

Kurama smiled.

"I promise you Akira, this will be our secret," he said.

"Thanks Kurama," Akira said.

In the silence that followed as Akira regained his composure, Kurama began theorising that the real reason Akira claimed to not remember what had happened when he had attacked his teacher or during his time in Demon World was because he was intentionally repressing the traumatic memory of those events. There were plants he could use to possibly bring those memories back to the surface, but there was a far safer way of accessing Akira's locked memories without putting him through the stress of reliving them – which the plants would do – and that was to have Hiei read his mind.

* * *

Hiei sneezed, ignoring the looks the others gave him. They were walking through a small town that was eerily quiet, and so his loud outburst had probably taken the others by surprise – they were all tensed in expectation of a surprise attack, despite there being no signs of life anywhere nearby. The team had started out their journey to Tourin at top speed, but as night had fallen, they had all gradually slowed, and not only because it was dark. Along the way they had passed ransacked caravans, looted and abandoned shops and corpses both fresh and old: and although none of those things were rare sights in Demon World, it was unusual to see so much chaos and devastation without any reprieve. After several hours of travelling, the group had finally reached a small town that even Hiei was surprised to find had been abandoned. It was usually a busy market town – Hiei had often visited it as a child to steal food and weaponry for the bandits he had been raised by – and so it was especially unsettling to find it so devoid of activity. Occasional bursts of wind created small eddies of dust around their feet as they walked and whistled through ragged shop canopies. A shop door, hanging on by only one hinge, creaked slightly with every breath of wind, both the sound and the movement proving to be quite distracting for the group as they passed it by.

And, as though all four of the group had sensed it at the same moment, the team stopped and raised their heads to a wooden sign hanging outside of a bar, flapping slightly in the wind.

Once more, the Dark Force had left another message in blood, only this time it was more complex.

"What the hell does all that mean?" Yusuke muttered.

"I dunno, mate," Chu replied.

"I think the enemy is just toying with us by being deliberately cryptic," Touya suggested.

Hiei squinted up at the sign – which, in the dark of night, was really only legible when the light of the moon illuminated it, and as it was swaying in the wind, the words kept moving frustratingly out of view. At the bottom left corner of the sign a squiggly symbol had been painted on, one that made no sense to Hiei, and in the centre of the sign, several lines of text had been painted on. As the other three continued debating the sign, Hiei did the most logical thing that apparently none of the others had the sense to think of, and took out his communication mirror, calling the one person he knew would be able to decipher what they were looking at. After a short pause, Kurama's face appeared, and he looked surprised to see Hiei.

"We've found something that you should be able to explain," Hiei told him.

"Alright," Kurama replied. "What is it?"

"A message," Hiei replied. "From the enemy. It says "the young child who carries a great burden, must someday step into the father's shoes, to walk in the light of destiny great, and surpass the winter guardian's might"."

"My first impression would be that it alludes to a specific person," Kurama said. "And that this person is someone the Dark Force has an interest in."

"A kid taking after his old man and walking in the winter light?" Yusuke asked, leaning over Hiei's shoulder to look down at Kurama.

"I don't think the meaning of the words are literal," Kurama advised him.

"I'll say," Yusuke said, rolling his eyes. "Just when we thought this asshole couldn't get any more annoying, he starts using weird poems to talk to us. I always hated poetry… We don't even know a little kid that's trying to take after his father because of the winter, or whatever…"

Yusuke turned to complain to Touya and Chu, but Hiei kept his eyes on the image of Kurama in the communication mirror, and so he alone saw Kurama glance at something the mirror was not large enough to capture.

"Who's with you?" Hiei asked him.

Kurama paused, his face neutral – but in that forced way that Hiei had come to recognise meant that he was hiding something, a few tell-tale signs in the angle of his eyebrows and the tension in his jaw betraying him.

"Who is it?" Hiei pressed.

Kurama took a longer look down to his right side, before nodding his head and looking at Hiei again.

"Akira is with me," he said. "We were just patrolling the grounds together."

"Who the hell is "Akira"?" Hiei asked.

"The weird little kid that tried to out-ninja us in the woods back in the human world, remember?" Yusuke called over to Hiei.

Hiei growled quietly as he remembered the little menace Yusuke had just referred to. When he then noticed another slight change in Kurama's demeanour, he understood why the fox demon kept looking at the child at his side.

"Doesn't Akira mean light?" Hiei asked.

"I believe it does, yes," Kurama replied.

"Then we have our answer."

Kurama started to say something else, but Hiei closed the communication mirror, terminating the link. He turned to Yusuke and Touya, who were both watching him expectantly.

"It seems this verse is a reference to that obnoxious child called Akira," he said.

"So does that mean the father part is a reference to Kuwabara?" Yusuke asked.

"I already told you Yusuke, it's not biologically possible for Kuwabara to be that child's father," Hiei replied.

"Because of the hair thing?" Yusuke said. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that. So then it's a reference to Kurama."

"…Idiot, no."

Yusuke pouted and Hiei sighed.

"The kid has pale purple hair," Hiei said. "That only happens under very specific circumstances."

"When one parent has blue hair," Touya began.

"Right, yeah," Yusuke said.

"And the other has black hair."

Yusuke froze and Hiei fixed him with a glare that he hoped conveyed exactly how enraged he felt.

"Wait a second…" Yusuke muttered. "Blue and black don't make purple…"

"This isn't a paint mixing class, Yusuke," Hiei replied.

"Hey, how do you know I was thinking about paint mixing?" Yusuke asked.

"Because that's about as simplistic as your logic is."

"Are you calling me simple now?"

"Genetics are more complex and not at all related to paint, Yusuke," Touya pointed out.

"Okay, fine…" Yusuke conceded. "So Yukina is the kid's mother, and the father isn't Kuwabara or Kurama, it's some guy with black hair."

"Yes Yusuke, it's some guy with black hair."

Yusuke took far too long to understand what Hiei was implying, and when he finally did, his face contorted through a range of emotions, from shock, to disbelief and finally to panicked outrage.

"Hey, that's not my kid!" he wailed.

"Really?" Hiei growled.

"Yeah, really!" Yusuke retorted. "Yukina's my best friend's wife, what sort of guy do you take me for?"

"The sort who freely admits to fantasising about fornicating with every woman he ever meets," Hiei flatly replied.

"Yeah, fantasising, but never actually doing!"

"Then explain to me where that child came from."

"Kuwabara married Yukina eleven years ago, so the kid was born after they got married, so why don't you explain it to me?"

"Yukina rarely comes into contact with any men nowadays, and of the men she does come into contact with, only two of them have black hair: you and me."

Yusuke pointed at Hiei as though he was about to turn the accusation around, but apparently he understood how immoral such a remark would be as he stopped himself before he even opened his mouth.

"Hey you guys, I don't mean to interrupt, but there's a second verse to that poem."

Hiei, Yusuke and Touya turned to Chu, who was standing on the other side of the bar entrance, looking up at the other side of the wooden sign. They all moved over to join him, apprehensively looking up to see that what Chu had advised was in fact true: another message awaited them there, again appended with a squiggly symbol on the bottom left corner of the sign.

"When the snow falls gently on leaves of green, what has been seen cannot be forgotten, and joining the darkness of bonds of blood, to try to topple a king from his throne," Touya read aloud.

"Okay, I'm officially pissed off at this bastard now," Yusuke complained.

"Maybe it would make more sense if we knew what those little squiggly things at the bottom meant," Chu suggested.

"They look like symbols from the old language," Hiei offered. "But I don't speak it or read it."

"Me neither," Touya replied. "Again though, this is something Kurama might be able to advise us on."

"Right, yeah," Yusuke agreed. "And we could've asked him all these questions if Hiei hadn't just hung up on him before any of us got the chance to say anything."

Hiei turned to glower at Yusuke, who, upon meeting his glare, apparently then remembered what they had been arguing about before Chu had alerted them to the second part of the Dark Force's message.

"I've never been with Yukina, Hiei!" he snapped.

"Well someone has," Hiei replied. "There's no other explanation for that child."

"Yeah, okay, but that kid is like nine years old!" Yusuke argued. "And nine years ago, I was like thirteen! So no way is that kid mine!"

There was a short silence, which Hiei was glad was ended by someone else, as it saved him the effort of once more berating Yusuke's pathetic grasp of basic mathematics.

"Mate, you couldn't count if it could save your life," Chu said.

"I always skipped math class!" Yusuke yelped defensively.

"Am I to understand you had an affair with Hiei's sister?" Touya asked. "Is that why there's so much animosity between the two of you?"

"I did not have an affair with Yukina!" Yusuke quickly replied.

"You've thought about it," Hiei said.

"Yeah, sure, but thinking and doing are not the same things!" Yusuke argued.

"Someone is lying," Hiei said.

"Well it's not me!" Yusuke insisted. "Gees Hiei, she's your sister and Kuwabara's wife!"

Hiei wanted to believe that Yusuke would not touch Yukina for those reasons, but there was no other logical explanation for where the kid had come from.

"It doesn't matter anyway," Hiei grumbled. "The truth will come out soon enough."

"The truth has already come out, idiot!" Yusuke yelled at him. "Because I just told you the truth: that kid is not mine and I've never laid a hand on Yukina!"

Hiei gave Yusuke a hard look and he faltered slightly.

"Outside of my imagination, I've never laid a hand on Yukina!" he qualified his previous remark. "But hey, at least I'm honest about that! It's not my fault you can't get any action!"

"Don't try to change the subject by talking about inappropriate matters," Hiei warned him.

"I'm just saying Hiei, I've never seen you even show any interest in a girl before," Yusuke continued. "Or a guy! Or anyone! Or anything!"

"That's not something I will ever discuss with you, least of all when we're supposed to be averting the demise of Demon World!"

"You couldn't even score with Botan! Not even after I practically handed her to you at the first Demon World Tournament!"

Hiei bared his teeth at Yusuke, who did not even falter at the gesture.

"Seriously Hiei," he added. "Maybe you should try it sometime. You might relax and maybe actually smile about something for once."

Hiei walked up to Yusuke, ignoring the way Touya and Chu moved over to either side of him as though they thought he was about to start a physical fight with the mazoku.

"I'm maybe not as analytical as Kurama," he said in a low voice. "But that first message is clearly a reference to that feisty little brat and it clearly mentions him surpassing his father: do you know what that means? It means the child will kill his father and replace him."

"Oh yeah?" Yusuke sneered. "Well lucky for me I'm not that kid's father. And hey, since you're so smart, what does the second part of the message mean?"

"Green leaves is a reference to youthful naivety and the snow is a reference to winter, mentioned in the previous passage. It either literally means the kid will kill his father at the start of winter or winter represents how the father has expired his usefulness. The king on the throne is Enki, because once the kid kills his father, he'll take over Demon World, all the while consumed by the Dark Force – which is why it begins mentioning light and then it mentions darkness – that is a reference to Akira – meaning light – becoming consumed by darkness – in other words, by the Dark Force."

"Well that's a cheerful thought."

"Fortunately for me, it doesn't concern me."

"And fortunately for me, it doesn't concern me either!"

"It concerns someone."

"Not me!"

"Time will tell."

"No it won't, because we're gonna stop that bastard before he starts acting out any of his boring and complicated poems!"

"Yes, you'd better hurry. Unless you want your own son to slaughter you."

Yusuke and Hiei exchanged glares until Touya and Chu stepped between them and advised them that they had to move on. Yusuke and Hiei stepped away from each other and the team continued through the town, picking up their pace again as they left it, continuing through the night towards Tourin – which, in Hiei's opinion, was still a waste of time – and as they ran, Hiei silently wondered why the Dark Force was so interested in that kid. And, more specifically, he wondered if that kid was the same emiko he had sensed on High Road with Botan the day he had lost the Dragon of the Darkness Flame: if that really was the day the Dark Force had awoken, maybe the kid's presence there was why the Dark Force was after him.

But did that then mean that the Dark Force was also looking for Hiei and Botan? Surely not, since, through Risho, the Dark Force had already stated that it had no interest in Hiei as long as he was without the Dragon of the Darkness Flame.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** Kurama has a discussion with Kuwabara and Yukina about Akira, the DW team arrive at Yusuke's tower and are shocked at what they find – and Yusuke is very offended – but that is only the beginning of their problems as the Dark Force surfaces wearing a face none of them want to attack, and launches a scathing verbal attack on Yusuke before things turn violent and the team is forced to make another difficult decision about their next actions. **Chapter 20 – Winds of Change**

**A/N: **So I uploaded the first draft of this chapter before checking my reviews. I'm going to leave this chapter up for now, but maybe this fic has been a little too ambitious for me, and I am worried that it is out of character or that the focus isn't where it should be. I'll read over it again over the weekend and decide whether I should revise what I have or scrap it and move onto one of my other projects.

Thanks to everyone who has been reading and helping out with feedback.


	20. Winds of Change

**Chapter 20 – Winds of Change**

Kurama had offered to take an extended shift on guard duty as Kuwabara was out of action and to allow Kaisei, Fubuki and Akira to rest. He had intended to spend part of the very morning making a plan for gathering his mother and the others to the safe house: but any plans he had been making were quickly forgotten when he found Kuwabara and Yukina in the living room, despite the fact that everyone else in the house had gone to bed to sleep. He politely greeted them and made to leave the room again, but Kuwabara called him back. As he made his way over to sit in an armchair facing the sofa they were sitting on, Kurama became painfully aware of just how solemn and intense their faces were.

"I didn't know you'd asked the SDF to come here," Kuwabara said as Kurama settled into the armchair.

"Why would you do that?" Yukina asked.

"I was trying to find help to test the abilities of the three trainees, and the strongest warriors I could think of who could help with that were the officers of the Special Defence Force," Kurama replied. "I had no idea they would launch a vendetta against Akira the way they did."

"I thought I already told you that Spirit World don't really like Akira," Kuwabara replied.

"You did mention that," Kurama said. "But you never told me that the hatred they felt for Akira was quite as ardent as it evidently is."

"They were trying to kill Akira," Yukina said. "And you were standing watching."

Kurama opened his mouth to tell her that he had not intervened because Kaisei and Fubuki had already done so, but he stopped when her face changed slightly and the look she was giving him became quite threatening, particularly so when she was usually so gentle and meek.

"The thing is Kurama, they don't even consider Akira to be human," Kuwabara said.

"Akira's not human," Kurama pointed out.

"They call Akira "it" or "monster"," Kuwabara replied, practically ignoring Kurama's remark. "And even when they do admit that Akira has a name, they never get it right."

"I heard them call him Tetsuo Shima," Kurama offered.

"Yeah, that's because one of them said Akira was named after the lead character in "Akira"."

"Ah, I see. And of course the lead character of that series is in fact called Tetsuo Shima."

"Yeah. Sometimes they say Tatsuo too."

Kurama had already figured out that the name Tatsuo Shima on the list of death row prisoners in Spirit World was a reference to Akira, but somehow having it confirmed only made the situation all the more disturbing. He was almost certain that Akira was not feigning his innocence, that he genuinely could not remember what he may or may not have done and that he had been unfairly treated by Spirit World: no doubt because of his demon heritage.

"I would never have called in the SDF had I known this would happen," Kurama assured Akira's clearly concerned parents. "And now that I understand the situation, I will do my best to keep the SDF away from Akira."

Kuwabara nodded and, seeing that he looked a little calmer, Kurama decided to push the issue.

"Outside of Akira being a half-demon living here in the human realm with you," he began carefully. "Is there another reason the SDF could possibly have to dislike or distrust Akira?"

"No," Yukina immediately replied.

"I really don't like talking about Akira like this," Kuwabara grumbled. "It's not really our place to say things Akira maybe doesn't want anyone to say."

"I understand," Kurama assured him. "And I appreciate that you are very close to Akira–"

"We're family," Yukina said.

Kurama nodded.

"Yes, I know that…"

Kurama then slowly moved his eyes from Yukina's intense face to Kuwabara's slightly less grim visage, the memory of Akira admitting to being fourteen years old surfacing in his mind.

"So Kuwabara," he said slowly. "You were seventeen when Akira was born?"

"Yeah," Kuwabara replied.

Kurama found both that fact and Kuwabara's casual acceptance of it quite odd. At seventeen, Kuwabara had still been in high school, and even after leaving high school, he had continued on to college and studied for several years longer before starting a job: and during that time, Yukina had mostly lived in Genkai's temple with Genkai, up until her death, at which point Yukina had moved into the Kuwabara family home, taking up residence in Shizuru's old bedroom. It had not really occurred to Kurama before then that Kuwabara and Yukina must have married before they were even living together, and spent the first few years of their marriage living separately, but now it seemed quite odd, especially as they had not married because of Akira's arrival, as had been Kurama's initial assumption.

"And Akira must have been three years old when the two of you married?" Kurama asked.

"Yeah, that's right," Kuwabara agreed. "Akira was at our wedding. Don't you remember that?"

Kurama frowned. He had no recollection of a purple-haired, red-eyed boy being at Kuwabara and Yukina's wedding, and surely, as a member of their family, Akira would have featured quite prominently in the ceremony.

"Well anyway, the main thing is, Akira's fine now," Kuwabara said after a short pause.

"Yes, that is good," Kurama replied. "And what about you? How is your leg healing?"

"It's a bit less icky to look at now," Kuwabara replied with a small smile. "I'll be back on my feet in no time."

"That's good to hear," Kurama said. "You should rest for now though."

"I couldn't sleep for thinking about what happened last night," Kuwabara replied. "And knowing that I was sitting inside the whole time…"

Yukina touched a hand to his arm and gave him a sympathetic look.

"It's just lucky Kaisei and Fubuki were there, right?" he said.

Kurama nodded, though he was beginning to wonder once again exactly what had happened to Shun-Jun.

"Yes," he said. "And it's lucky something was strong enough to stop one of the SDF officers."

Kurama wondered if Akira had somehow been responsible for what had happened. Maybe, in times of desperation, like the one he had just been in and the one he had described encountering in Demon World, he was able to exert some sort of unusual power, perhaps in part inherited from Kuwabara.

"They both went though, right?" Kuwabara asked. "Both the SDF guys, they're gone now, right?"

"Yes," Kurama replied. "But before that, something happened–"

"As long as they're gone, then everything's fine," Kuwabara said.

Kurama could not tell if Kuwabara had deliberately cut him off or not, but he decided not to push the matter any further for the time being. It seemed that Akira was still the best source for information about Akira, and so he decided to simply wait until the time was right to either help Akira recover his lost memories or else take off the collar around his neck and so that he could demonstrate exactly what he was capable of.

* * *

After a full day of travelling, Yusuke and his team had finally arrived in Tourin. Yusuke had lost track of time – though that was nothing new for him – and could not really remember how long it had been since he had left his tower to go and register for the Demon World Tournament: but he was sure that, however long it was, it was not long enough to have justified what awaited him when he returned.

"I'm sorry Yusuke, but we're not letting anyone past this point."

"But you know who I am, you asshole!"

Hokushin shook his head.

"Things have changed since you left," he began.

"I've been gone longer on visits to the living world," Yusuke pointed out.

"Everyone else who left when you did has returned under control of the Dark Force."

Yusuke paused.

"And as much as I want to trust you, I just can't," Hokushin continued. "If you appreciate what I'm saying and if you're not aligned with the enemy, you'll do as I say and turn around and walk away."

"This is my house!" Yusuke argued.

"It's also a symbol of power in Demon World," Touya said. "And, to the old followers of Raizen, it's a symbol of hope. It's good that a body of warriors remain here to guard it at all costs."

"But didn't we come here to get help?" Yusuke asked. "Wasn't that the whole point of coming here? To stop and rest for a bit and to get some more guys on our team?"

"I could probably spare you some of our men," Hokushin offered. "But I still can't let you come in here."

"Son of a bitch, this is my damn house!" Yusuke snapped at him.

"Yusuke mate, I think we gotta let this one go," Chu said. "I know you're mad, but we're in a tight spot here and we can't argue this one. Let's just get any guys they can spare, set up camp for the night and tomorrow we'll move on to Alaric, and maybe get some more help from there."

Yusuke looked up at the tower in the distance, feeling cheated no matter how logical he tried to be. The tower had been his home longer than any other place and it had also been the place he had felt the most at home: but if the alternative was watching the Dark Force to do the tower what it had already done to Yomi's temple, then he could make himself walk away and leave Hokushin to guard his home, in the hope that it would be there for him when he came back to it at the end of the war.

"Okay," he resigned. "We'll set up camp for the night and leave in the morning. Though maybe you could get us some food, Hokushin?"

"I can arrange for that," Hokushin replied.

"Not humans," Yusuke reminded him.

"I see you still have your sense of humour," Hokushin replied.

"And don't worry about giving us any help. You'll need everybody here to hold this place."

"Wait, what?" Touya echoed.

"Hang on there mate, we do still need help," Chu added.

"Hn, typical," Hiei muttered. "We should have just gone straight to Alaric, like I originally suggested."

Yusuke decided to ignore Hiei's remark – mostly because he was still reeling from Hiei's earlier accusations about him having had an affair with Yukina – and instead focused on helping the others pick out a sheltered spot to light a campfire. They all set about building the fire – including Hiei – and eventually some of Yusuke's men arrived with bags of food and blankets, which Yusuke joked was a nice touch: though when they told him it was Hokushin's idea, he suddenly found the concept slightly embarrassing, and quickly changed the subject.

After eating and choosing places to sleep, the group decided that they would all sleep at the same time, since they were within view of where Hokushin had set up a sentry to guard and watch over the tower, and so they would be alerted to any impending danger that way. And, despite not feeling tired and being sure that the adrenaline of his conflicting emotions would keep him awake, Yusuke fell asleep quite quickly, only really realising how quickly he had fallen asleep when he awoke again in the middle of the night.

At first, Yusuke was not really sure what had woken him – whether it had been a dream or something that had really happened to disturb his sleep – and so he lay still, on his back, his hands folded over each other on his chest, and he kept his eyes closed. He tried to relax to ease himself back to sleep, but something kept him just on the point of consciousness. The sound of the wind agitating the embers of the fire, causing it to hum and crackle, made Yusuke open his eyes and he realised that he would not get back to sleep until he had gotten up and walked about to satisfy himself that the nagging feeling he had was just a result of his heightened nerves and not an indication of pending trouble. He quietly peeled his blanket off and got to his feet, looking around the others to assure himself that all three were still asleep before tip-toeing away from the campfire.

As he walked, Yusuke looked over at his tower again, and the marching guards placed at various points around the periphery of the grounds, again feeling conflicted about being denied access to his own home. He was still angry that Hokushin was basically treating him the same way Hiei had treated Rinku, but also he was glad that, in his absence, the others at the tower had taken the initiative to set up a guard and hold the tower from being turned into the same mess Yomi's place had become. The wind was still lifting dust from the ground in small swirls and sometimes in big sheets, but the noise it was making was quite welcome, as otherwise the air would be silent – which was something Yusuke had never experienced in Demon World before, as there was always something to be heard, whether it was the sound of a distant battle, the sound of screeching birds overhead or the sound of one of the almost perpetual storms passing over. It seemed odd that there had not been many storms recently, least of all since Yusuke had returned to Demon World from his last visit to the living world and started out with his team of eight: and as he was wondering if that was because the Dark Force was somehow affecting the weather, the gust of wind suddenly threw a wall of dust against him. As the wind died down, Yusuke spat out the dust that had inadvertently entered his mouth and blinked and rubbed at his eyes to clear them, before clawing his fingers through his hair to shake loose any dust there. He finally swiped his hands at his clothes a few times before satisfying himself that he was clean.

He looked back over at the campsite and noticed that Hiei was suddenly awake and standing, his sword in his hand. Yusuke paused, partially unsure if he was imagining what he was seeing. He wondered if it was a dream or a hallucination caused by the still swirling dust in the air and the darkness of night: but, even after the dust had settled, Hiei was still clearly standing there, his weapon drawn and his face set into a disturbingly irritated expression. Yusuke turned fully towards the campsite, facing Hiei directly. They were some distance apart, but Yusuke was starting to think that the sense of foreboding that had roused him from sleep had in fact been emanating from Hiei all along. Touya and Chu were still sleeping at either side of the fire, apparently blissfully unaware of what was potentially about to happen.

Another gust of wind swept along, filling the air with dust again until the image of Hiei was barely visible: but just before he lost sight of the campsite altogether, Yusuke saw Hiei start towards him. Despite the tension there had been between them lately, Yusuke was still shocked that Hiei was attacking him, but he told himself it could surely only be because Hiei was the latest victim of the Dark Force. Pushing aside exactly how that made him feel – because it was quite a sickening idea that someone as in control as Hiei had become a puppet for the same sick voice that had spoken through Risho – Yusuke readied himself to defend against the attack Hiei appeared to be about to launch. He brought up his arms and steadied his feet, expecting Hiei to go for one of his typical first moves of either swinging a punch or slashing with his sword.

When Hiei leapt into the air and launched himself high over Yusuke's head, Yusuke flinched before spinning around, expecting Hiei to land behind him in an attempt to catch him off-guard. The first thing to land was Hiei's sword, followed shortly by Hiei himself, who landed in a crouch, wiping the back of one hand over his suddenly bloodied mouth. It took a moment before he looked directly at Yusuke, but when he did, he once more looked quite irritated.

"What are you standing there for, idiot!" he roared. "Move!"

He launched himself directly at Yusuke, and the two fell to the ground, rolling over each other. Yusuke was ready to start punching Hiei, but he stopped when something collided with the ground at the exact point he had been standing on before Hiei had knocked him over. Hiei leapt to his feet and Yusuke quickly copied, both leaping in opposite directions as something smashed into the ground where they had landed, creating an impossibly thick flurry of dust and dirt that left Yusuke choking and his eyes watering, making visibility even more restricted. Relying solely on sensing the source of the movement, he continued dodging it until he found himself almost stumbling into the still smouldering remains of the campfire, with his three teammates close by, all on their feet and straining to breathe and see through the murky air.

At that point, the movement stopped, and the dust and grit slowly began to thin and fall back down the ground, the air gradually clearing, eventually revealing a single figure standing before them, watching them with the sort of self-satisfying smirk that always drove Yusuke mad.

"What's the matter boys, surprised to see me?"

Yusuke had heard the phrase "my heart sank" before, but he had never realised that it could be a literal feeling, as a weight starting in the region of his heart dropped downwards towards his gut, leaving his chest tight. He was looking at Jin and he had heard Jin's voice speaking, but, even without any further evidence, he could tell by the tone of his voice and the look on his face that the wind demon had become the latest to fall prey to the enemy.

"It was awfully kind of you to leave me alone with Yomi like that," he continued, his voice sounding increasingly unlike his own as it became blatantly clear that he was not the one speaking. "I thought he might be willing to join me, in the same way his son had, but there was no convincing him. Of course, given how weak he was from bemoaning the death of his son and how he had been the one to take his life, he was ripe for exploiting: I could have just taken him over by force. But his pain and suffering was just too easy to exploit for fun, and by the time I'd finished feeding off of his misery, he wasn't worth the taking."

Yusuke and the others edged slightly closer to each other.

"Don't look so serious, boys," Jin said with a smirk. "I made sure to reunite Yomi with his son in death."

"I don't believe you," Yusuke said quietly. "There's no way you killed Yomi."

Jin shrugged and closed his eyes, smiling in a smug way that Yusuke knew the real Jin never would.

"It's incredible what some of my victims are truly capable of when I strip away their self-doubt and their consciences," he said.

He opened his eyes again and relaxed his shoulders, tilting his head slightly as though amused by the group of four facing him.

"It's also incredibly easy to manipulate the emotionally vulnerable," he continued. "After he'd killed his own son and you'd left him behind to consider the wreck his temple was in and that he'd let his son infect all of his men and spread my influence, Yomi was in a very bad place. It didn't take much effort on my part to convince him that killing himself was his only option left – in fact, it was so easy to convince him, it almost wasn't any fun. The flavour of the absolute collapse of his self-esteem was delectable though: the blend of self-loathing, self-doubt, anger, grief and regret was almost intoxicating."

"Damn you…" Yusuke muttered.

"It seems I need to do a little herding action to complete the final part of my plan though," Jin said. "The chosen eight are still too far apart, and getting them closer together is apparently going to involve me getting my hands a little bit dirty."

Yusuke glanced over at Hokushin's guards: none of them appeared to have noticed Jin's arrival, or else they did not think it out of the ordinary, as they were still just casually walking their lines. He was confident that the four remaining members of his team could take Jin alone in a fight, but he did not want to have to fight the wind demon as he was sure that Hiei would just use the melee as an excuse to slaughter yet another of his friends.

"Before any of us does anything else," Touya said. "Why don't you tell us the meaning of the cryptic messages you left for us?"

Jin tilted his head in the opposite direction to before, looking slightly lost.

"We saw your poetry, written in blood," Touya explained. "I'm not sure that the message was intended for us, but if it was, you be as well explain it to us here and now."

"I'll tell you the meaning of my messages when you tell me the location of the woman," Jin replied, looking suddenly quite stern.

"What woman?" Yusuke asked.

"You know what woman," Jin replied, shifting his glare to Yusuke. "I know you're hiding her from me because I've been searching for her since the moment I awoke, and I've never felt any trace of her."

"Maybe you killed her along with everyone else when you blew up the tournament arena for the Demon World Tournament, you asshole," Yusuke said with a hint of dry sarcasm.

"I didn't blow up anything. What you saw there was the result of a weapons expert I convinced to blow himself up in the busiest public place he could find."

"Right. Because you don't like getting your hands dirty."

"I don't need to get my hands dirty and it's much more fun watching other people panic and fail. The one that blew up the arena was one of my favourites: I took control of him but I let him retain a certain level of consciousness. I stayed inside him for weeks and drove him to the brink of madness and beyond."

"Well your dumb tricks are stopping here. If you want a piece of us so badly, why don't you come out of Jin and face us yourself? I'll even send everyone else away and it can just be you and me, one-on-one. That's what you really want anyway, isn't it?"

Jin sighed and appeared to consider Yusuke's offer, his eyes looking up as he tapped a finger against his chin. When he lowered his eyes to look at Yusuke again, he realised that it had all been a mocking ruse.

"You know this is the only way I can have a physical presence," Jin said. "And as for you versus me, you should know that, even now, you wouldn't stand a chance against me. You will never defeat me, Yusuke. I will be the one who defeats you. I will slowly wear you down until you reach the point that you beg to join me."

Yusuke growled and bared his teeth, his fists clenching painfully tightly at his sides: the only thing stopping him from rushing forwards and punching the face of the mocking voice was that it was Jin's face.

"You're not getting me," he said. "And you're not getting Chu, or Touya or Hiei, I'm gonna force you out of Jin and I'm gonna make you pay for what you did to Suzuka, Shishiwakamaru, Rinku and Yomi!"

"Well now that's hardly fair," Jin said, with a look of mock sadness. "After all, I didn't do anything to Rinku."

"Yeah you did," Yusuke replied. "You set that whole situation up. Hiei was wrong to do what he did, but the whole thing was ultimately your fault."

"Your loyalty to your not-so-loyal friend is touching," Jin said. "However, loyalty alone won't make you immune to me."

"There is nothing you can do or say that will ever make me agree with you or want to join you. And if you knew anything about me, you'd know that I'm not the sort of guy who lets anyone tell me what to do, so there's no way in hell I'm letting you take my soul."

"Well I don't exactly take souls, as such. And I'll even be so generous as to tell you that I haven't even managed to consume a single demon so far: everything you've seen is just what happens when I take control of someone."

Yusuke hesitated, at first thinking that what he had just heard meant the situation was not as bad as he had thought: if the Dark Force had not managed to consume anyone then it was not as strong as they had feared, and he was sure that Koenma had said there was hope to recover those who were just controlled, meaning that if they could stop the Dark Force, they could save Jin.

"Hope is a nice snack, but that's really all it is for me," Jin said.

Yusuke hated the fact that he was facing an opponent who could literally taste his emotions. It was both an invasion of privacy and it was utterly repugnant.

"It's just an aperitif and all it does is whet my appetite for something more substantial," Jin continued. "Like the sourness of guilt and the bitterness of total despair."

"I'd like to see you try," Yusuke growled. "You don't have shit on me."

"Idiot, don't goad it!" Hiei hissed.

"Stay out of this, Hiei!" Yusuke snapped.

"I'm always up for a challenge," Jin said cheerfully, almost sounding like the real Jin. "And Yusuke is quite an interesting challenge – though not an especially difficult one. His weaknesses are too easy to exploit."

"There's nothing you can say to me or do to me in this world that can break me," Yusuke replied.

"I think there is," Jin said. "For example, I could ask you about that "safe house" Koenma has set up back in the living world."

Yusuke suddenly felt cold. Koenma had said the Dark Force would stay in Demon World until it had caused the collapse of Demon World, and after that it would move to Spirit World before going to the living world: had he been wrong? Had that just been another titbit of misinformation from Spirit World that could potentially cost the lives of those the team had so carefully chosen to stay in the supposed "safe house"?

"Panic and doubt and, as usual, anger," Jin commented casually. "Let's see if we can't expand on that tasty spectrum of negative emotions: I'm not implying that your safe house isn't safe, I'm implying that the whole concept reveals the darkest parts of everyone involved in its creation."

"Wh-what?" Yusuke echoed.

"Confusion is quite sweet, but it's really not very substantial."

"Stop tasting me and get to your dumb point!"

"You chose Keiko over your mother very quickly."

Yusuke felt that sinking feeling in his chest again – although this time it was more like a plummeting feeling than a gradual downward tug like it had been earlier.

"Ooh, guilt," Jin cooed. "And more anger – really Yusuke, is there anything in this life that doesn't piss you off?"

"What do you know about the safe house?" Yusuke asked.

He genuinely wanted to know. How did the Dark Force know about it? Had it been present when the team had set it up? Had the Dark Force attended Keiko's birthday party, under some inconspicuous guise, unnoticed by anyone?

"I know that, after you rushed to guarantee Keiko a place there, you asked about another place for your mother," Jin replied. "But when your request was refused, although you argued the point, since that time, you haven't given your mother a second thought. She's back there, in the human world, drinking her life away, oblivious to the fate that awaits her when I take over the living world."

"Not gonna happen," Yusuke growled.

"I suppose that's status quo for you and mother dearest though. Ever since you first came here, to Demon World, to seek out your ancient ancestor, your mother has been left behind, wondering where you are and if and when she'll ever see you again."

"My mom's a tough lady."

"Yes, she does an excellent job of appearing that way through the abuse of alcohol. By maintaining a constant state in inebriation, she can mask her true pain so well. Because you, just like your father before you – and I mean your actual father, your biological father, not Raizen – left your mother alone with all her problems."

"You don't know what you're talking about!"

"Right, because your mother's a "tough lady", right? She never gets overcome by her feelings for you. Every day that you're gone, and she doesn't know where or why, never upsets her. Just like how she wasn't in the least bit upset at your funeral, right? She's so tough, she didn't shed a single tear. Is that right, Yusuke? Do you remember when Spirit World made you visit your own wake and you saw how well your mother was coping with your death? Do you remember how tough your mother was then?"

Yusuke was shaking – because he was frustrated – and still he had to hold back. He was silently trying to figure out a way to silence Jin without killing him. He could vaguely remember Genkai once teaching him something about blows to the larynx that incapacitated the voice, but it was difficult to concentrate on a lesson he had dismissed as useless so many years ago when someone was seriously getting on his nerves.

"It's quite ironic, actually," Jin said, rocking on his heels and acting as though he was retelling a tale from his own life that meant nothing. "As a child, you worried your mother by spending all your time with Keiko – at her parents' restaurant, at the playpark, following her around and generally just watching her in everything she did – and then, as you got older and Keiko started giving you attention, you started treating her the same way you'd always treated your mother. Confident that you had her undying devotion, you turned your back on her."

"What?" Yusuke snapped.

"You drift into her life every now and then – just often enough to remind her that you still exist, and staying just long enough to lull her into the false sense of security that maybe, just maybe, this time your phoney marriage proposal actually means something of substance – before vanishing again as though it's no big deal. Heartbroken, she mourns your absence, but in time, she learns to deal with the pain. She starts to think she needs to move forward without you, but at that point, you pop back into her life and start the cycle all over again."

"You've got no idea what you're talking about!"

"Unfortunately for you, I know exactly what I'm talking about. And I – and your three friends here – know that I'm right because you're getting so defensive."

"I'm not getting defensive, I'm getting pissed off!"

"Yes, you're angry – but the taste of guilt is far stronger than that of anger right now. You're an asshole, but you're the absolute worse kind of asshole: you know exactly what you're doing to your mother and to Keiko, and yet you continue to do it, over and over again."

"Shut the hell up!"

"It makes you feel wanted, needed. You like that. It's an addiction for you. If someone cries when you walk away, isn't that just the ultimate validation of how badly they need you around? Everybody likes to be wanted or needed, but you need to be needed, don't you Yusuke?"

Yusuke took a step forwards. In his mind, he had already justified beating Jin unconscious. He was sure Jin did not want to be saying the things that he was, so really, he would be doing his friend a favour.

"I'm only telling you the truth, Yusuke," Jin said. "I'm merely holding up a mirror that just happens to only reflect the truly ugliest parts of your soul: if you don't like what you see, don't blame me."

"I'm not gonna let you get to me with this bullshit," Yusuke warned.

"Oh, but I already have started to "get to you", haven't I?" Jin responded.

"No!" Yusuke snorted.

"It's pointless to try to lie to me. I can taste everything you're feeling, and I know I've agitated you – and I'm not talking about how angry you've become, because any idiot can make you angry, that's hardly a challenge – I'm talking about how you've abandoned the one thing you started out this argument with: your loyalty to your friends."

"What?"

"Jin is one of your best friends, but right now, you're prepared to push him to the point of death just to shut me up. You wouldn't brutally attack one of your friends under normal circumstances, but I've touched a raw nerve, haven't I Yusuke? And now you're so desperate to silence me, you'll do just about anything."

"You don't know what I'm thinking."

"Don't feel bad about it, Yusuke. After all, it's the same thought process all of my prey goes through. It was the same thought process Yomi went through when I convinced him to kill himself to atone for killing his own son. It was the same thought process Shishiwakamaru went through when I convinced him to kill himself because he was a phoney who hid a horrible evil deep within his soul. And it's the same thought process you will go through many times more, when I convince you to kill some of those you call your friends…"

Yusuke started to move forwards but stopped abruptly when he suddenly found himself confronted by Chu's back. He looked up at the back of Chu's head, pulling a face of angered confusion at him, even though he would be unable to see the gesture.

"What are you doing?" Yusuke demanded.

"I saw the little message you left with Suzuka," Chu said to Jin, ignoring Yusuke. "You said I was next. If that's true, then I reckon you oughta leave these fellas out of it, because if you know me so well, then you know I fight one-on-one."

"Your sense of honour is touching, Chu," Jin replied. "But I should tell you that when I said you would be next, I meant you would be the next one to meet his own demise: of the original team of eight that Koenma assembled to counteract my mischief here in Demon World, I only ever had interest in four. And you, Chu, were never one of the four."

"I see," Chu said. "Then I gotta assume that means you wanted Jin – and, for now anyway, you've got him – and that you want my mates Yusuke, Touya and Hiei."

"Correct," Jin replied.

Yusuke's face twisted: the only logical reason he could perceive for the Dark Force wanting only the four he had named out of the original team of eight was simply that they were the strongest in terms of raw power – though even that theory was tenuous at best, as Chu had a higher power level than Jin.

"Do you care to divulge why you have singled out me, Yusuke, Jin and Hiei?" Touya asked.

"I don't think I need to," Jin replied.

"Please do," Touya said. "Your logic isn't obvious to any of us."

"Hubris isn't my style," Jin responded through a feral grin.

"Hn, this from the arrogant bastard who's done nothing but brag and dribble over its own imagined magnificence since the moment we were unfortunate enough to cross paths with it," Hiei grumbled.

"Then what d'you say?" Chu asked. "How about a one-on-one fight? You and me?"

"Don't you mean "Jin and me"?" Jin asked.

"Call it what you like," Chu flatly replied.

Yusuke poked a finger at Chu's shoulder, causing him to look back and over his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Yusuke asked him in a low voice as their eyes met.

"Buyin' you boys time to go get a team together from Mukuro's army," Chu whispered back. "That was the plan, right?"

"The plan was to get some guys and go back for Jin and Yomi," Yusuke replied. "But one's dead and the other's turned into a puppet, so there's been a slight change to the plan!"

"No there hasn't," Touya interrupted. "It's true that we will no longer be returning to Gandara, but now the plan is simply to continue to Alaric and recruit as many to our team from Mukuro's army as we possibly can. Then we continue to fight and try to stop the fall of Demon World."

Yusuke slowly looked around the others, again getting that nauseating feeling that they had all somehow come to a decision without him, as though they were now operating on some sort of hive mind mentality that only he was not a part of.

"I'll buy you as much time as I can," Chu said.

"Good luck," Touya replied.

Hiei started to leave and Touya made to follow him, leaving Yusuke hesitating on the point of angered indecision.

"Go mate," Chu said to him. "Get a stronger team, get back here, and make this dirty bastard pay for what he did to our mates."

Yusuke paused just long enough to accept that even Chu had resolutely made up his mind, the look in his eyes one of granite determination, before reluctantly nodding his head.

"Stay alive," he said. "Because we will be back for you."

"No problem, mate," Chu said with a smile.

Yusuke sighed and then turned his back on Chu, running after Hiei and Touya, who had already moved some distance from the campsite, hoping all the way that he was doing the right thing: because the definition of the right thing had been getting harder and harder to decipher of late.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** Botan has another run-in with Saito in Spirit World (that's actually really horrible), Kurama and Akira train together and Akira reveals something Kurama was not previously aware of, Hiei has a sense of foreboding on the approach to Alaric, Kurama discusses with Kuwabara what he learned about Akira, and Yukina continues to be elusive and off-handed. **Chapter 21 – Kuwabara's Little Secret**


	21. Kuwabara's Little Secret

**Chapter 21 – Kuwabara's Little Secret**

Kurama nodded at Kaisei as he arrived to take over his shift on guard duty, and he started back towards the temple. He was distracted by the notion that he had reached the time when he would need to take his mother to the safe house and he was on his way to ask Fubuki if she wanted to join him and collect her parents at the same time: and so he was especially surprised when he reached the porch steps and found Akira standing at the top of them, dressed in his usual ninja clothing – albeit without the hood – looking surprisingly bright for someone with still obvious bruising on his face from the events of the day before.

"Akira, you're up early," Kurama said. "I've just finished covering your shift on guard duty, I don't expect you to work a shift today."

Akira pressed his hands together and bowed his head in what looked like a pre-fight gesture.

"I also don't expect you to train with me today," Kurama added.

"I know that," Akira replied. "But I want to train with you."

"I'm not sure that it would be beneficial right now," Kurama pointed out. "Not until you've at least healed your present wounds. The damage you'll take from the collar will only set your healing process back further. I would much prefer that you concentrate on getting back into fighting condition today."

Kurama started up the steps but stopped again as Akira sidestepped into his path. He paused, two steps from the top and on eye level with the emiko.

"Please Kurama," he said. "I want to do this."

"Any particular reason why?" Kurama asked.

"I know that you think I'm not strong enough to be a part of this team and that I have a bad attitude about it, and I know that what you saw yesterday probably made that seem true," Akira replied. "I looked really weak in that fight and I want to prove to you that I'm not weak."

"I know that you're not weak, Akira," Kurama assured him. "You're problem is not an inability to fight, it's a lack of motivation."

"Yes, I suppose that's true."

"Why don't you want to fight: be honest."

"I'm scared I turn on someone I care about, like I did with Master Ken. I don't remember how that happened, so I don't know that it won't happen again."

"That's why you hold back?"

Akira nodded.

"I understand and appreciate that," Kurama said. "And I appreciate your honesty. Now I have a question for you: that you have told me as much as you have, including the confession you have just made, can I assume that you trust me?"

Akira nodded again, looking quite earnest.

"That's good, because, as someone you trust, I need to ask something of you that will test just how much you do trust me," Kurama said.

"Okay…" Akira said, starting to look a little wary, but maintaining his determined stance regardless.

"I will train with you this morning, but only if you let me remove that collar," Kurama said.

"No, please, you can't–"

"Wait, hear me out: I can remove it in an undetectable way, and I promise that, as soon as we are done, I will replace it, and nobody but the two of us will ever know that I did it. And without the collar, you will suffer far less injury during our training and therefore not impede your recovery from your existing wounds."

"What you're saying makes sense, but what if I black out and kill you?"

"That won't happen. I trust you enough to know that that won't happen."

"Master Ken trusted me. I'd known him since I was a little kid, and we trusted each other and I still killed him!"

"Master Ken betrayed your trust when he did what he did to you. I will not betray your trust. And I hope that you will never betray mine."

"I don't know that it won't happen again!"

"Akira, trust me, no matter what you do, you will never kill me."

"How do you know that?"

"You're not strong enough to kill me."

"I killed Master Ken, and he was the trainer to the SDF! His power level is the equivalent of an upper A-class demon and I tore him apart in seconds!"

"First of all, you don't know that you tore him apart in seconds: if you can't remember the moment of his death, you don't even know for sure that it was your hand that caused his demise. And secondly, the power of an A-class demon – or a member of the SDF – pales in comparison to my strength, not to mention the fact that I have centuries more battle experience than you, putting you at an incredible disadvantage should you even want to make an attempt on my life."

Akira appeared to be thinking about what Kurama had said, which, Kurama thought to himself, was as close as he could get to an agreement from him, and so he decided to push the matter.

"Let's go to the old house you used as a training dojo before we assembled here," he suggested. "Once we are there, I'll take off the collar and you can decide what you want to do: you can either sit for an hour without the collar on, or you can spar with me. What do you say?"

"I-I guess if I just sat there I couldn't…" Akira began quietly. "I don't really know how strong you are, but…"

"You have to trust me, Akira."

"I do trust you. I don't trust myself. I don't know what I might do."

"Building trust is all about facing the unknown. Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith and push yourself in order to trust anyone, even yourself."

Akira looked down at his feet before smiling shyly and rubbing a hand at the back of his head in a way Kurama had often seen Kuwabara do when he felt bashful about something.

"My mom was right about you," he said. "You really do have a way with words!"

Kurama smiled.

"So then for me, and for your mother, will you do this?" he asked.

Akira lifted his head, chewing on his lip and searching Kurama's eyes as though looking for any sign of deceit or hesitation before finally nodding. Kurama turned and started back down the steps and Akira hurried after him, joining him on the lawn.

"Race you there?" he asked.

"What?" Kurama muttered, turning to Akira curiously.

He caught a brief glimpse of Akira flashing him an insolent grin before he vanished in a blur of motion that reminded Kurama exactly how agile an emiko could be: and that Akira was still a child. With a smile, Kurama ran after him, silently wondering as he went whether or not he should let Akira beat him there. He thought that maybe Akira needed the confidence boost of winning their impromptu race, but on the other hand he thought that maybe beating him, even after he had had the advantage of a head start, might make him appreciate that he had underestimated Kurama's capabilities.

The decision was taken out of Kurama's hands however when, running at the absolute limit of his ability, he managed only to maintain pace with Akira, and could not catch him to pass him.

Perhaps Akira was not the only one who would be learning a lesson that day.

* * *

Botan yawned wearily, stretching her arms above her head, as she left her bedroom. She had not slept well due to a combination of being unable to get to sleep and then having what little sleep she did manage to get sabotaged by nightmares. She was on an early shift of duty – which meant she would have to forego her morning tea with any other ferry girls who could manage to attend – and that thought had only made the start of the day seem to be harder to face. She had closed her eyes as she yawned, something she quickly regretted, as when she opened them again, she barely had time to stumble to a halt and let out a yelp of alarm as she found herself almost walking right into a figure standing leaning against the hallway wall immediately outside her bedroom door.

She paused, her eyes wide and her mind practically blank. The ferry girls all stayed in a wing of King Enma's temple, on the floor above the ogres, each with their own private bedroom and with shared bathroom, kitchen and common room facilities, with all rooms being merely doors off of a long corridor. The corridor itself was accessible by a stairway that was open and accessible by anyone at any time, but, as it was Spirit World – and, more specifically, it was King Enma's temple – there was no need to put up doors or to put locks on any of the doors that were present. Common courtesy kept the ogres from ever entering the ferry girl's quarters, and disinterest kept all other residents of Spirit World out; not even Koenma ever ascended those stairs to the domain of the ferry girls.

But, just as the entire population of Spirit World with the exception of the ferry girls had changed their opinions of Botan following her pregnancy, so apparently had interest in the ferry girl residence suddenly changed.

"You look like you've been up all night."

Botan tensed but tried not to let her anxiety show in her face. The SDF had always been inaccessible to the rest of Spirit World – including even Koenma – but during the last four years, they had gone out of their way to pry into Botan's life, and, of them all, Saito had, by far, been the most persistent.

"Makes me wonder who kept you up last night."

Botan fought back a sickening blend of despair, wounded pride and righteous anger.

"Remind me again: is any man fair game for you, or do you need the added danger factor of a demon to get your thrills?"

Botan clenched her fists at her sides, an action hidden from Saito's view by the excessive sleeves of her kimono.

"If I threatened to kill you or slapped you about a bit, would you spread your legs for me too?"

"That's enough!" Botan snapped.

"That's enough? Just slapping you about a little?" Saito asked.

"I may not out-rank you in this world, but I don't have to stand here – in my own home – and take this abuse!" Botan argued.

"You didn't have any problem "taking it" from Hiei," Saito casually replied.

"You don't know anything about what happened between Hiei and me."

"Actually I do. You had sex with him. And I know that because you produced a little girl who clearly wasn't fathered by anyone from this realm."

"That's not what I meant. And don't ever discuss sex in any form in the same sentence as my little girl."

"So what was it about Hiei that you couldn't resist? Because if it was power, you know I'm one of the strongest men in this world."

"Good for you."

"What else would I have to say or do to get you chasing after me with your underwear around your ankles like you did with that demon scum?"

"Hiei is not demon scum!"

"How is your "little girl" anyway? She's not really so "little" any more, right?"

Botan paused as a sense of something sinister washed over her.

"The last time I saw her, she was much more of a woman than a little girl," Saito continued. "Do you think she knows that she's maturing, or do you think she needs a man to show her that?"

"What are you talking about?" Botan asked in a low voice.

"I'm just saying, some of my colleagues in the SDF have wondered if your daughter has all the same body parts as an ordinary woman…"

Botan took a step back, her mind really only thinking about exactly where her daughter was right then and trying to calculate how quickly she could get to her and if she would make it there before Saito or any other member of the SDF.

"We also wondered if she has the morals of a demon or a spirit," Saito continued. "Though even if she inherited her morals from you, her supposedly virtuous mother, you haven't exactly set her a very good example, have you? Were she to follow in your footsteps, she'd let the first ruthless demon she met impregnate her–"

"Don't say things like that about my little pumpkin!" Botan cut him off. "She's just a child, you horrible man!"

"And if she inherited her morals from her father, she believes casual sex with the emotionally vulnerable is fun," Saito carried on regardless of Botan's complaint. "Have you thought about that yet, Botan? Have you explained the facts of life to that girl yet? Or are you waiting for someone else to show her what the facts are?"

Botan stepped up to Saito, staring him straight in the eye.

"If you, or any other member of the SDF, so much as think anything even remotely sexual about my very young, very off-limits little girl again, I will make you regret it."

Saito smiled, his eyes raking over the length of Botan's body shamelessly.

"You're very sexy when you're angry," he said. "The way your chest is heaving up and down and your face is flushed with colour… It's exactly the same look a woman gets when she reaches the peak of sexual excitement. But you didn't need me to tell you that, right? You've had plenty of experience of the joys of sexual intercourse already."

"Get out of here or I will report you to King Enma," Botan warned.

"What will you tell him?" Saito asked mockingly. "That an officer of the SDF came to your bedroom to ask you for sex? He'd never believe you. I am one of King Enma's right-hand men and you are one of many pieces of fruit from a tree. And you're not even the sweetest or juiciest piece to be had, because someone else has already eaten away the best part of you."

"Get out of here!"

Saito held up his hands as though in defeat.

"Just consider this: if your valiant Hiei doesn't get the problem in Demon World under control, the Dark Force will come here next," he said. "And we all know what its first priority will be. If you want to live long enough to see your "little pumpkin" turn into a real woman, you're going to need a back-up plan. And maybe that's something I could help you with. I could protect you. Does that turn you on, or would you rather I threatened to hand you over to the enemy first of all, since that would be a really evil, demon-like thing to do?"

Botan did not answer him, mostly because she was close to tears and she refused to let him see her cry. He snorted in sarcastic amusement before finally turning and walking away, leaving Botan to once again repress her feelings and force a smile that left a bitter taste in her mouth.

* * *

Kurama hissed and retracted his hand, shaking it and wincing as he noticed faint traces of smoke around the tips of his fingers. He made to reach for the fastening of Akira' s collar again, noticing then that Akira was smirking – which was not something Kurama had ever seen him do before.

"Is this amusing you?" Kurama asked.

"Kind of," Akira replied.

Kurama shook his hand again and frowned at the back of Akira's head.

"Just because you're so clever and you always know the right way to do everything and you said this would be easy and now you keep messing it up," Akira added, glancing back over his shoulder with a more blatant smirk on his face.

"It's locked quite securely on," Kurama explained. "And I'm trying to be mindful not to make it obvious that it was tampered with, lest you get into any bother with anyone from Spirit World."

"I don't think anyone can remove it except the person who put it on," Akira concluded, turning his head away again.

"It can be done," Kurama insisted. "But out of curiosity, who did put this collar onto you? Was it Koenma?"

"No."

"You can tell me, I don't intend to ask whoever it was to come and remove it right now."

"It was my mom."

Kurama paused, his fingers hovering just over the catch of the collar around Akira's neck.

"Your mother?" he asked.

He thought that he must have misheard, since Akira's reply was quite illogical.

"Yes," Akira replied. "I think it was because they knew she would never take it off, because she made an agreement with Lord Koenma that if I kept it on, I would still be allowed to see her and the rest of my family."

"A promise that wasn't honoured initially though," Kurama pointed out. "Because you weren't allowed to see your family during the time you spent with the SDF, right?"

"I still sometimes got to see my mom, but they didn't let me see anyone else. It was really awkward when I saw everyone else again after two years. Even Aunty Shizuru couldn't hide how shocked she was at how bad I looked."

"I've seen the photographs of you on the wall of the temple, you always look very happy with your family."

"Yes but have you seen the photographs of me before my tenth birthday? It's really weird for me to look at them, because it's like I'm looking at pictures of someone else. It doesn't feel like that was ever my life."

"So things were easier before that day you ran afoul of Spirit World?"

"My life was great before then. The only thing I ever wanted was to meet Hiei. And look where that got me."

Kurama carefully placed his thumb on one side of the clasp and his fingers on the other.

"Do you blame Hiei for what happened to you?"

Kurama realised then that it was quite possible Hiei did not even know about his relation to Akira, or that he had only learned of it upon his recent visit to the living world.

"I don't really care about Hiei," Akira replied. "I don't even think about him any more. What's the point? I don't blame him for anything that's bad in my life, but I do think he's an asshole for all the pain he's caused my mom. She only ever wanted him to be part of the family and he always shut her out and refused to talk to her about anything. It really hurts her that he rejected her like that."

Kurama made another attempt to open the clasp of the collar, wincing through the pain of another jolt from the anti-tampering mechanism: but this time it finally yielded in his grasp, popping open. He lifted it away as Akira touched a hand to the part of his neck it had covered, wondering to himself when and how it was that Yukina had learned of her relation to Hiei.

"It feels weird…" Akira muttered.

"Yes, and I imagine it will feel even more unusual sparring without it," Kurama replied.

He decided that he could address the issue of Hiei's relation to Yukina with Kuwabara – who had also learned of it by some mysterious manner.

Akira shook himself off and turned around to face Kurama with a curious and vaguely anxious look – which Kurama was starting to learn was the boy's default expression – and, after a brief pause, both began to move. At first, the session went no different to any other, which left Kurama wondering if Akira was still intentionally holding back or if he was simply unable to consciously tap into the upper limits of his power. After twenty minutes had passed Kurama decided to become a little more ruthless, and he began using some of his lower level plant weapons beyond just his Rose Whip. Akira quickly adapted to them and did not have much difficulty dealing with them until he tried to chop the head off of a Weaver, which promptly caught his arm from the elbow done in a bind of interlocking vines. On instinct Akira pulled away from the plant, but, as soon as it tightened, he stopped, his eyes widening slightly as he paused in a brief moment of panic before evidence of his training kicked in and he began studying the plant more carefully. Within two minutes he had figured out how the plant was holding him and how to free himself, and when he did, he looked uncharacteristically pleased with himself.

"Why are you smiling?" Kurama asked him. "You didn't get rid of the Weaver. It still remains here as a hazard."

"I misjudged it, but don't tell me what I have to do to get rid of it," Akira replied. "I want to try to figure it out for myself."

"I wasn't going to tell you," Kurama said. "I want you to figure this out on your own."

"Okay, cool."

Akira's smile grew and Kurama's frown deepened.

"This is fun," Akira added, as though understanding the source of Kurama's look of confusion. "This is what it used to be like when I had lessons with Master Ken. It was always fun. He didn't just teach me to fight with my body, he taught me fight with my mind too."

"It's unfortunate that your lessons were not continued these past four years," Kurama replied.

Akira started to stalk around the Weaver, studying it through narrowed eyes. His attention was back on the task at hand, and so the flippant tone he used for his next response only made his words sound all the more bizarre.

"I've had lessons these past two years though," he said. "With Uncle Kazuma and Kaisei and Fubuki."

Kurama's mind went temporarily blank, and only when Akira threw a ninja star at the base of the Weaver and leapt back as it sprayed out a venomous sap did his senses return to him.

"What did you just say?" he asked.

"I had lessons with Kaisei and Fubuki," Akira replied, his attention still focused on the demon plant, which was faltering after his last attack.

"No," Kurama said as Akira launched another ninja star at the Weaver. "Before that."

"Before that…" Akira muttered. "I trained with them for two years?"

Kurama waited until the Weaver had wilted to the ground and Akira had given it an experimental jab with his toe to confirm it was no longer a threat before continuing.

"What did you call Kuwabara?" he asked.

Akira's head snapped up and he fixed Kurama with a fearful, guilty look, as though he thought that the question was somehow accusatory.

"Nothing bad," he said.

"Say it again," Kurama said. "Because it sounded to me like you called him "Uncle Kazuma"."

"I did call him Uncle Kazuma," Akira replied, still looking scared. "I've always called him Uncle Kazuma. Is that wrong?"

Kurama was unsure where to even begin explaining to Akira why what he had said made no sense.

"Is it weird for you to hear me call him that because you call him Kuwabara?" Akira asked. "Uncle Kazuma told me everybody calls him Kuwabara, but people in his family call him Kazuma – like Aunty Shizuru does – so I call him Kazuma too. Because he's my uncle, and we're family. And he likes it when I call him Uncle Kazuma."

"I wasn't aware that Kuwabara was your uncle," Kurama carefully replied.

"Oh," Akira said, nodding his head. "But obviously he is, right?"

"Right…" Kurama said, despite not really agreeing with or understanding the logic behind Akira's claim. "I think the issue is that some people – like Yusuke and I – thought that Kuwabara was your father."

Akira looked horrified by Kurama's response, which only made the situation all the more awkward and difficult to fathom.

"It would be really cool if Uncle Kazuma was my father," Akira said. "No, wait, it would just be weird if he was… I guess what I'm trying to say is it would be really cool if my biological father was the same as Uncle Kazuma. That would be awesome."

"Right, yes, you and Kuwabara seem to be very close."

"Yeah, Uncle Kazuma's awesome. He's really funny and he's really honest. He doesn't lie to me or hide things from me and that's important to me."

Kurama nodded slowly.

"So, do you…" he began, the wide-eyed look on Akira's face only making his next question all the more difficult to vocalise. "Do you know who your father is?"

"Of course I do!" Akira replied, suddenly screwing up his face as though Kurama had just said something ridiculous.

"Right," Kurama said. "Have you ever met him?"

"Yes, obviously," Akira replied, his face twisting further still.

"But… You don't… Live with him?"

"No, of course not!"

"You just live with your mother. And your Uncle Kazuma."

"Right."

Kurama nodded, but Akira was still looking at him as though he was the one saying startlingly illogical things. He wanted to ask who Akira's father was: because the fact that Kuwabara was not his father meant that Yukina had been with another man at some point, and yet she had still married Kuwabara, who treated Akira like family. It was not surprising to Kurama that Kuwabara would take in Yukina's child as his own under such circumstances, though it was surprising that Yukina had been with anyone else. It perhaps also explained why Kuwabara and Yukina had married three years after Akira's birth, as Kuwabara – being the traditional sort of man that he was – would surely have married Yukina before ever trying for a child with her.

"Do you remember your uncle's wedding?" Kurama asked.

"Yes, of course," Akira replied, giving Kurama the sort of confused look Kurama felt that he ought to be wearing himself. "I was there. And so were you. Aunty Shizuru asked you to dance with her but you said you couldn't because you weren't very good at dancing."

Kurama could genuinely not remember any children present at Kuwabara's wedding – however he could remember Shizuru teasing him when he had told her that he had two left feet on the dance floor – and as it was unlikely that Akira had heard such an insignificant story from anyone else, his knowledge of it did seem to verify his presence there.

"You weren't part of the ceremony," Kurama said, more to assure himself that there had not been a three year old child standing at the altar with Kuwabara and Yukina than to get a response from Akira.

"Not really," Akira replied. "I was a little kid."

Kurama decided to add this issue to the list of items he needed to discuss with Kuwabara.

"Shall we continue?" he asked. "We still have almost half an hour left."

"Okay," Akira said, looking surprisingly cheerful.

As they returned to starting positions, Kurama silently wondered who Akira's real father was: and where he was and if he would surface and cause problems during the coming weeks as the Dark Age progressed.

* * *

Hiei had a bad feeling. It was not unexpected that he would have a bad feeling during such an unpredictable time in Demon World, but it was the sort of bad feeling that warned him there was more to be concerned about than what was immediately in front of and around him. Along with Yusuke and Touya, he was running towards Mukuro's headquarters, which was what he had wanted to do for some time, and yet, somehow, it suddenly felt like a bad idea. It was not that he suspected Mukuro or any of her men to have fallen prey to the Dark Force or even that he expected to encounter a lot of bother from more of the Dark Force's victims en route: it was a feeling related to actually returning to what was effectively his home and facing Mukuro.

He had no reason to be apprehensive about facing Mukuro. He had no reason to care what – if anything – Yusuke and Touya might say to her. He was optimistic that he would find her well prepared for something as dire as the fate that had befallen Yomi. He was optimistic that she would have men to spare and he knew which were the best to recruit into the team, both in terms of strength and loyalty. Although he was not the sort to indulge in excessive optimism, he could foresee no reason to be pessimistic about going to Mukuro.

But he still had a bad feeling about it.

He supposed that a large part of his negativity was in relation to the fact that nobody other than Mukuro knew that he no longer had the Dragon of the Darkness Flame, and he suspected that she might try to coerce him into admitting his weakness to his team-mates. Under normal circumstances she would of course never tell anyone or suggest that he reveal his situation, but they were not facing normal circumstances and Mukuro, more than anyone, would prioritise the needs of her empire and Demon World as a whole over Hiei's own needs.

He also had an increasingly bad feeling about the fact that he and Yusuke kept getting on each other's nerves – he was actually glad of Touya's presence to mitigate any further altercations. He felt that, at some point, they would end up on opposite sides of the battle, and lately it had felt as though that time had already arrived. The Dark Force had not even needed to take control of either one of them to pit them against each other: though that, Hiei supposed, was part of the enemy's powers. The enemy had the ability to manipulate anyone without even taking control of them, and that was the one thing all who had stood before it had struggled with in the past. It seemed inevitable to Hiei that the Dark Force – who was surely focused on Yusuke – would end up consuming Keiko and using her to torture Yusuke, which would lead to Hiei and Yusuke fighting over how to handle the situation, because Yusuke would refuse to let any harm come to Keiko regardless of what she might become or be capable of at that time.

In that sense, Hiei was glad that he was not so attached to so many as Yusuke was. He had accepted that death was an inevitable part of life, and anyone he did have any consideration for was strong enough to defend themselves and would not allow themselves to fall victim to an enemy like the Dark Force: because nobody he cared about was naïve. Except Yukina, but she was unlikely to be a target for the Dark Force anyway.

As they crossed the border into Alaric, Hiei started to feel a little more at ease just for being closer to home. The trio continued into a wooded area, where Yusuke waved a hand for them to stop, which Hiei thought was odd, as there were no signs of any potential threats or obstacles nearby. When Yusuke approached a tree and started loosening his clothes, Hiei promptly turned away. When he heard Yusuke rustling through some undergrowth and then calling out that he "might be a while", Hiei sighed. Touya sat down on an old tree stump and looked infuriatingly calm, if a little pensive, and so Hiei turned his thoughts to the path ahead. It would take another day of travelling – or possibly a little longer, if Yusuke kept stopping for such base reasons – and Hiei was simply too impatient to wait that long to verify whether or not the bad feeling he had was justified. Moving around the other side of a tree – so as to avoid either Touya or Yusuke seeing his facial expressions – Hiei removed his bandana and began looking ahead to their destination.

Within seconds, Hiei had confirmed what, logically, he had already known would be the case: Mukuro had everything well in hand. There were no signs of chaos around her headquarters, no indication of any treachery or deceit in any of Mukuro's top men, and Mukuro herself was calmly reviewing a document in the comfort of her own office. All the Border Patrol guards were attempting to maintain some form of control over both the area around Mukuro's headquarters and along some of the key patrol routes. Alaric was clearly faring far better than Gandara and even Tourin. Hiei closed his third eye and lifted his head.

He still had a really bad feeling about continuing on to meet with Mukuro.

He replaced his bandana and moved back around the tree, joining Touya as Yusuke finally surfaced from the bushes, messily fastening his pants back into place. Looking at Touya and Yusuke did not make the bad feeling he had any worse, but nor did the presence of his team-mates reassure him any that something terrible – something far worse than killing one of his allies only to be proven to have wrongly judged him – lay ahead of him.

"Okay, let's go," Yusuke said with a nod of his head.

Touya stood up, still looking quietly thoughtful but otherwise unreasonably calm. Yusuke had a look on his face that implied he had been partially hoping that Touya or Hiei might suggest they should turn back and recover Chu and attempt to free Jin from the clutches of the Dark Force. It seemed that yet more disagreements lay ahead of them, but Hiei tried to focus on the fact that they would soon be aided by some of Mukuro's best men – ideally some of the crew he usually performed his patrol duties with – and that should be sufficient to diffuse any further petty bickering between himself and Yusuke.

But he still had a really bad feeling about going to Mukuro.

* * *

After twice wandering around the temple and surrounding grounds and then finally asking Keiko and Shizuru, Kurama gave up searching for Yukina. He had considered it a preferable option to discuss the matter of Kuwabara not being Akira's father with Yukina, but as he had been unable to locate her, he reluctantly sought out Kuwabara, finding him tentatively walking about the temple with Kaisei.

"Hey Kurama, I can put my weight on my leg now," he said as he caught sight of Kurama approaching. "I don't know what that weird smelling stuff you made me to soak my leg in is, but it really works!"

"It's probably some sort of demon brew," Kaisei suggested. "Probably made with herbs from the demon realm and infused with demon energy."

"Yes, that's mostly correct," Kurama said as he joined them.

Kuwabara leaned one shoulder against the wall, subtly moving his weight onto his uninjured leg in a way that he probably thought made it look as though he was not uncomfortable trying to support his weight with his wounded leg.

"It's got icky things in it too, doesn't it?" he asked, his face twisting slightly.

Kurama started to confirm that he was correct, but stopped when Kuwabara shook his head.

"Never mind, I don't want to know," he said.

"It worked, I guess that's the main thing, right?" Kaisei said cheerfully.

"I guess so," Kuwabara replied.

"Kaisei, would you please give us a moment?" Kurama said to Kaisei.

"Sure," Kaisei replied, his face darkening slightly. "Though if it's because you want to talk about what happened yesterday with that training session you set up, I'd just like to go on record as saying those two guys you hired were major assholes. I'm not Akira's biggest fan, but he's a little kid – in every sense of the word, because he's physically small too – and they were way out of order to beat on him the way they did. Especially two on one like that. And they weren't even trying to challenge me or Fubuki, they were just being assholes. My mom warned me about people from Spirit World, she said they're not always the good guys, and now I know exactly what she meant."

Kurama nodded.

"The events of yesterday were unfortunate," he said. "We are all on the same side, and I don't believe those two remembered or honoured that."

"Damn right they didn't…" Kaisei grumbled, before nodding at Kuwabara and then taking his leave.

Kurama watched him go, waiting until he could no longer hear his footsteps, as he had left Kurama standing in an open hallway with Kuwabara, and he did not want to risk anyone overhearing what he had to say.

"I guess your plan for the training session worked."

Kurama turned to Kuwabara, finding a strange look on his face.

"You said you wanted Kaisei, Fubuki and Akira to work better as a team, and it looks like what they went through brought them closer together," he added.

"It was never my intention to create such a traumatic situation for anyone," Kurama pointed out.

"Yeah, I know," Kuwabara said. "And I still wish it hadn't happened – I wish you'd told me you were planning on using guys from the SDF – but at least Kaisei's not ragging on Akira so much right now."

"Yes, well, there is something I need to discuss with you."

"No more SDF officers at the safe house."

Kurama smiled.

"No, it's not that," he assured him. "It's about Akira. Or, more specifically, it's about your relationship with Akira."

Kuwabara faltered slightly.

"You think I'm giving Akira preferential treatment because we're family?" he asked.

"No," Kurama replied (though he did suspect as much). "It's more about the fact that you and Akira are, as you say, family. And yet your relation to Akira is not a blood relation."

Kuwabara gave Kurama an incredulous look, but it did not last long as he suddenly switched to a look of guilt and then concern.

"Look, um, Kurama, I don't like keeping secrets from my friends," he muttered. "I know what it's like to be the one in the dark about things, but we all kind of agreed we wouldn't talk about this until the Dark Age was over."

"Would it help you if I told you that I know you're not Akira's father?"

Kuwabara looked so horrified that for a brief, sickening moment, Kurama thought that perhaps Kuwabara himself did not know that he was not Akira's father.

"Akira's real father doesn't deserve to be called a father," Kuwabara eventually replied. "I don't get what his problem is, Akira's a great kid – she's great in spite of him, not because of him… Heh, that's what Shizuru says anyway…"

"Okay, I understand that this is a sensitive subject for you," Kurama said carefully. "I can plainly see that you and Akira are very close and I appreciate if you don't want to be specific with your reply, but it appears that you do know who Akira's father is, and I'm concerned that he may cause unnecessary stress and drama for Akira and for you if the Dark Force takes control of him or else brings him here."

"You don't have to worry about that," Kuwabara replied, looking relatively confident about his reply. "Akira genuinely doesn't care about him and I can control myself. I think he should be ashamed of himself for never acknowledging his own kid, but I'm a real man and I know how to use self-control to not behave like a dirty rat."

Kurama felt no more reassured by Kuwabara's response, as whilst it seemed to imply that Akira would be immune to any emotional torture from his real father, Kuwabara seemed to be incredibly vulnerable to such an attack, and that was an enormous weakness that an enemy like the Dark Force would relish capitalising upon.

"Don't push yourself too far too quickly," he reminded Kuwabara. "Let your leg heal at its own pace."

"It's almost back to normal already, I'll be fine," Kuwabara replied, despite still blatantly standing most of his weight on his good leg and leaning quite heavily against the wall.

"Well, take care," Kurama said, before turning to take his leave.

Kurama continued back through the house, intent on moving outside to find Fubuki to discuss their plans for collecting their parents to bring them to the safe house: but, as he reached the last stretch of corridor towards the front door, he saw something that momentarily made him forget all about his plans.

Yukina had just entered the temple, her hands and the ends of her kimono muddy, and a streak of faint muddy marks across her forehead. She was visibly and audibly breathless, her hair was sticking the sides of her sweat-glistening face and she had a small, leafy twig lodged in her hair near the back of the top of her head that she appeared to be unaware of. She took a moment to notice Kurama and when she did, she stopped abruptly, her eyes widening ever to slightly before she straightened up and made an obvious effort to conceal how inexplicably exhausted she was.

Between learning that Kuwabara was not Akira's father and being suddenly very aware of Yukina's prolonged absences from the house, Kurama suddenly found himself suspicious.

"Yukina," he said as he approached her. "Is everything alright?"

"I'm fine thank you, Mister Kurama," she politely replied.

"You seem a little flustered," he replied.

"I was gathering herbs in the forest."

Kurama stopped directly in front of Yukina and deliberately ran his eyes over her.

"I put them away already," she added, apparently understanding what his look had meant.

"That was very efficient of you," Kurama replied. "I hope you're not wearing yourself out running around tending to Kuwabara and keeping the house here."

"No," Yukina said quietly. "But thank you for your concern."

She started to walk past Kurama and he had been prepared to let her go, but, for some reason, as she passed and he noticed the little twig in her hair again, he decided to test whether she might be more forthcoming than Kuwabara.

"Akira has been talking to me about his father."

Yukina stopped, a step behind Kurama, and he saw her lift her head slightly.

"I have concerns that Akira's father might cause a lot of turmoil, were he to come to this house," he added.

"I don't think Akira has told you anything," Yukina said in a low voice. "And as we are family, and family is very important to me, I will not discuss this with you."

Kurama turned around, intent on responding to Yukina's unusually stern response: but she started to walk on, at a faster pace than before and with slightly heavier footsteps, in a manner than implied that she would say no more regardless of what he said next. He sighed in defeat, silently wondering if there was anyone else who could enlighten him on the issue of Akira's father.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** The (remainder of the) DW team reach Mukuro, and Yusuke is immediately suspicious when Hiei and Mukuro go off for a private meeting without him or Touya. Mukuro reveals something shocking to Hiei about the High Road incident that makes him realise he is vulnerable in the fight against the Dark Force for more reasons than because he lost the Dragon. The DF sends another poem/message to the DW team by a means that tells them Demon World is rapidly falling. Back at the safe house, Shiori tries to bond with Akira, but is interrupted when the team are called to another disturbance. Yusuke and Hiei have to make a decision about the next direction they both take. **Chapter 22 – The Dragon Slayer**


	22. The Dragon Slayer

**A/N:** Come chapter eleventy-seven, the title of this chapter will make total sense. For now, it's (probably) meaningless (it's a nod to the "monster of High Road").

**Chapter 22 – The Dragon Slayer**

Yusuke, Hiei and Touya stood patiently in the front yard of Mukuro's headquarters as they waited for Mukuro herself. They had been stopped – as Yusuke had suspected they would be, after how his own men had greeted him back at his tower – by Mukuro's guards; but, unlike their experience in Tourin, the guards had said that they would be allowed inside just as soon as Mukuro had screened them herself. Standing in the yard had given Yusuke enough time to grow bored and start looking about himself, which had led to him realising that Mukuro's entire estate was far creepier than he remembered it to be. He had always found Mukuro a little bit creepy, and arriving at their destination at nightfall had probably only added to the creepiness of the area, but the lack of the usual ambient noise of Demon World – like thunderstorms or fighting – only made the atmosphere even more unsettling. Yusuke could hear every footstep as the guards moved about the yard, hear the rattle of every chain, clink of every sword against a holster and the occasional sigh.

When Mukuro finally did arrive, she walked out of the main entrance flanked by two enormous demons, her chin tilted slightly downwards and her uncovered eye thinned. She walked with determination and purpose, and although it was a relief to see her unchanged, it was also a little worrying to see her looking vaguely irritated.

"What brings the three of you here?" she asked as she stopped, still several feet away from Yusuke and his two remaining team-mates.

Yusuke glanced at Hiei from the corner of his eye, expecting him to take the lead as they were, after all, facing his friend and boss. But Hiei remained frustratingly quiet, and, mostly out of wanting to end the awkward silence, Yusuke ended up answering Mukuro instead.

"We need help," he said. "We came here because we were hoping you'd lend us some of your guys."

Mukuro, who had watched Yusuke unblinkingly as he spoke, stared at him for a moment longer after his last word before pointedly shifting her gaze to Hiei.

"We were assembled by Spirit World to counter the Dark Force's rising," Touya tried, despite the fact that Mukuro's attention remained fixed on Hiei. "There were eight of us initially, but three of our number have been slain, one has fallen victim to the enemy's influence and another has been detained fighting off the enemy to allow the three of us to continue here to seek help."

Mukuro kept her eyes on Hiei but still neither of them spoke.

"I get that you probably don't want to just hand over half your guys to us," Yusuke added. "But we know where the Dark Force is and who he's using as his latest puppet, so if we had more guys, we could go out there and stop him before he gets here."

"The situation here in Alaric seems quite calm," Touya said. "However in the remainder of Demon World, that is not the case."

Mukuro shifted her attention to Touya, fixing him with the same intense look she had given Yusuke and Hiei.

"Gandara is in ruins and we believe Yomi himself has perished," Touya added.

Mukuro nodded, her expression softening almost imperceptibly.

"Come inside," she offered. "You can rest and get some food. In the morning, we can discuss how you can help defend Alaric."

She turned around and started to walk away, and although Hiei started after her without question, both Touya and Yusuke remained, each exchanging looks of alarm.

"Hey, wait!" Yusuke called after Mukuro. "We didn't come here to join you, we came here to get some people to join us!"

Mukuro stopped, the two men either side of her stopping also and Hiei pausing behind her.

"Come inside," she said, looking back over her shoulder at Yusuke. "I think the situation may not be quite what you think it is."

"You have good news?" Touya asked.

Mukuro moved her eye to him.

"Just come inside," she replied.

She turned away and continued on, her foot soldiers and Hiei following her without hesitation. Yusuke turned to Touya, who looked suddenly worried, which only made Yusuke all the more apprehensive about what lay ahead of them.

"So… You think she has bad news?" he asked.

Touya shook his head.

"I don't know, Yusuke," he said. "But we can't agree to stay here and work as guards for Mukuro's empire. The rest of Demon World will fall and we will lose track of the enemy."

"I'm not staying here to play dumb guard dog to her," Yusuke replied.

Touya's eyes wandered to something above and beyond Yusuke's head, and Yusuke turned to see one of Mukuro's guards stopped a short way behind him, looking quite miffed.

"No offence, buddy," Yusuke called over to him.

He grunted and trudged on and Yusuke turned back to Touya.

"Well that was awkward," Yusuke muttered.

"Yes, just one more reason why we shouldn't stay here," Touya replied.

"Well I agree with you Touya," Yusuke said. "And I'm glad that you agree with me, but what about Hiei? Or is this gonna turn into another one of those situations you were talking about before when the group has three members and one might not agree with the other two…"

Touya's face changed slightly into a look that really made Yusuke feel pessimistic about the direction their mission was taking.

"We should prepare ourselves for the possibility that we may have to leave here without managing to recruit any additional help," he said.

"Yeah, I thought as much," Yusuke grumbled.

"And we should prepare ourselves for the possibility that we may have to leave here without Hiei."

Yusuke paused before snorting out a short, nervous laugh.

"You're kidding me, right?" he said.

Touya solemnly shook his head.

"What happened to "don't split up the team"?" Yusuke asked.

"I don't think we'll have any choice in the matter," Touya replied. "I suspect Hiei's loyalty to Mukuro will make him want to remain here as she has requested."

In the back of his mind, Yusuke still believed that, as faithful as he was to Mukuro, Hiei was still that little bit more faithful to Yusuke. And of course to his sister Yukina.

Although apparently he thought they had both betrayed him by having a child together behind his back.

Yusuke's face dropped: until that moment, he had almost forgotten that Hiei had accused him of being the father of his sister's child.

"Let's go inside for now," Touya advised. "I could be wrong. I just don't want to fool myself by being too optimistic."

Yusuke nodded and together they jogged after Hiei, eventually catching up to him halfway down the entrance corridor of Mukuro's headquarters, where he and Mukuro had stopped, along with the two foot soldiers who had been flanking Mukuro.

"These two will take you to the mess hall," Mukuro told Yusuke and Touya as they joined them. "We'll join you later."

Yusuke opened his mouth to ask what a mess hall was, but words failed him when Hiei followed Mukuro down a side corridor and the two foot soldiers moved over to block Yusuke and Touya from following them. Yusuke slowly moved his eyes to Touya, who merely raised his eyebrows slightly in an almost sympathetic "I told you so" look.

* * *

The bad feeling Hiei had experienced on the approach to Mukuro's headquarters had only gotten worse, especially so as he followed her down the confining corridor to her office. She had not said a single word to him since they had left the others in the main hallway, but he was almost glad of the lack of conversation, as it saved him the humiliation of accidentally giving away how apprehensive he actually was. When they finally entered her office and closed the door, Hiei found himself simultaneously relieved to be away from everyone else and suddenly curious as to why Mukuro had taken him so far from the others and closed the door.

"Sit down, Hiei," Mukuro said.

She started towards her large chair at the back of the room and Hiei stiffly moved over to a seat at the desk in the centre of the room, sitting into it.

"I'll start with the obvious," Mukuro said as she settled into her chair. "I'm not giving you any of my men. I appreciate what you're doing and that you need help, but you have powerful allies in other places who can help you. I intend to remain here no matter what. Even after Demon World falls, I will still be here. Just as I was the last time and the time before that."

"That's fair enough," Hiei conceded. "Just try not to let the Dark Force get the better of you."

"You do remember that I was one of those who sent it back to its prison and ended the last Dark Age?" Mukuro replied.

"Yes, but Raizen is no longer around to help you."

Mukuro gave Hiei the sort of dark look that would have, earlier in their acquaintance, been a cause for concern.

"I have others who are capable of helping when the time comes to send it back to its prison," she eventually answered.

"Yes. Aren't you glad that I arrived when I did?"

There was a brief – and yet incredibly tense – silence before Mukuro replied.

"I don't expect you to stay here with me at this time."

Hiei wondered what she meant with her response.

"You think you can handle this without me?" he asked. "Because the last time you needed Raizen, and nobody here is stronger than me."

"I understand that you have commitments in other worlds that you might feel compelled to aid at this time," Mukuro cryptically replied.

"Hn, I understand now," Hiei retorted. "You don't want me here because, without the Dragon of the Darkness Flame, you think I'm weak."

Mukuro paused again – which was so unlike her, Hiei was beginning to suspect that she was placating him – before answering.

"That's not it. I know you made a deal with your friends to protect the three worlds and you have to honour that. For your sake and for theirs."

"You're hiding something."

When Mukuro paused yet again, Hiei stood up abruptly, his chair falling down behind him.

"I did what I had to do to ensure that you would survive this Dark Age," she said. "As soon as it's all over, we can have this conversation again. But until then, if you want to survive this, you have to trust me."

Hiei lost a little of his ire as confusion crept in.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, forcing himself to sound more angry than curious.

"If the incident you were involved in on High Road hadn't kick-started another Dark Age, I never would have done what I did."

Hiei faltered as the last of his anger gave way to a sickening blend of curiosity and concern.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked again, his voice low and his tone hinting at his concern.

"Do you remember waking up from your injuries that day?" Mukuro asked.

"I remember waking up in a healing tank," Hiei replied. "With my arm a mess."

"But you had your arm when you awoke?"

"Yes, obviously, just as I have it now."

"You don't remember anything before that?"

"The last memory I have before that is collapsing on High Road."

"Because that wasn't the first time you woke up after collapsing on High Road."

"What?"

"That was third time you woke up after collapsing on High Road."

Hiei paused for long enough to scour his memories for any hint of having awoken any earlier than the moment he could remember doing so before shaking his head when he found no traces of any such recollection.

"I don't remember that," he said.

"I know you don't," Mukuro replied. "I thought it was best that way."

The idea occurred to Hiei then that he had, many times over the four years since the High Road incident, toyed with the idea of asking Mukuro to erase his memories of the event.

"You erased my memories?" he asked. "While I was in the healing tank? You had no right to do that!"

"You wanted me to," Mukuro replied. "And I didn't erase your memories, I just helped you lock them away. When the Dark Force has been securely returned to its prison, I'll help you unlock the memories – but not before that time."

Hiei thought back to the High Road incident again, at first remembering how he had tried so desperately to stop the Dragon of the Darkness Flame and only barely managed to before losing his arm. He thought maybe his pride had been the reason for him not to want to admit to what had happened, but as he thought about what might have happened the two other times he had apparently woken up afterwards, he found his mind wandering to what he could remember of the final time he had awoken and broken his way out of the healing tank, and that thought process led him to the same place it always inevitably did: to the unsettling memory of Botan wailing nonsensically at him about something that made no sense.

And, amongst her ramblings, she had insisted that the two of them had done something on High Road that day: something he could not remember.

"I want my memories back now," he concluded.

"I can't do that," Mukuro replied. "For your own safety, I can't–"

"Don't give me that crap, give me back my memories!"

"I can't do that, and I can show you why."

Hiei pulled a face at Mukuro, but she was unaffected.

"As you know, the walls of this building are comprised of the body parts of my victims," she calmly continued. "And that includes eyes, some of which can act as cameras. I have a recording I can show you that will demonstrate to you why I can't return your memories to you. Would you like to see it?"

"There's nothing you can show me that will change my mind," Hiei flatly replied. "You had no right to interfere and I want my memories back!"

He was infuriated at the idea that Botan knew more about what had happened that day than he did.

"We'll see," Mukuro said.

"Yes we will!" Hiei said indignantly.

Mukuro picked up a remote control from the armrest of her chair and pointed it at a screen mounted on the side wall of her office.

"This recording doesn't have sound, but you won't need to hear what's happening to understand what's happening," she said.

Hiei turned disinterested eyes to the screen as it flickered to life. The recording had been made in a small observation room on the top floor from an eye mounted in the roof by the back wall. It showed Hiei standing by the large window overlooking Alaric, his back to the camera, one arm leaning against the glass and the other hanging at his side as a bloody stump. Hiei frowned slightly as any scepticism began to fade: he had no memory of being there with only part of his arm, and so Mukuro truly must have closed off some of his memories. As he watched, Mukuro entered the room behind him and, judging from the movements of her hands, she was talking to him. He did not respond or even move from his position, and the moment continued that way for some time before Mukuro stopped, in the centre of the room, and stood very still. Hiei started to wonder if the recording had been paused, as the picture had become so still it seemed more like a photograph than a video: but when he saw his own head twitching slightly, he realised that he was answering Mukuro.

Hiei moved closer to the screen, studying more closely the image of himself replaying. On closer inspection, he could see the sinews of his remaining arm twitching as he clenched his fists more tightly against the window. There was no way of guessing what he was saying as he kept his head down and remained facing away from the camera: but when he finally stopped talking and Mukuro began talking again, the exaggerated hand movements she was using struck him as odd, as she rarely gesticulated so wildly. After several silent seconds of watching her waving her hands about, Hiei finally saw himself turn around, and what he saw made him glad that the video was missing an audio track.

He looked terrible.

He looked as bad – albeit without the tears or unkempt hair – as Botan had when she had come to see him after the High Road incident.

Whatever had happened that day had affected him as badly as it had her.

"Do you understand now?" Mukuro asked from behind him.

Until she had asked the question, Hiei had still thought that he wanted to know what she had helped him to forget: but when faced with the choice, he gave the only answer that made any sense.

"I understand," he said. "I don't want to remember that."

Clearly it had been something concerning the Dark Force, and if he remembered it, he might become vulnerable to becoming the enemy's next victim.

Or maybe he – and Botan, for that matter – already were under the control of the Dark Force.

* * *

Yusuke poked the tip of a sharp knife at the bloated fish on his plate. Demon World cuisine took a lot of getting used to, and he preferred to only eat food he absolutely knew the origin of: though he suspected what was in front of him was just a raw squid of some type. When a third jab of the knife made a popping sound and the gelatinous mound deflated into a shrivelled pile of goo on the plate, he sat back in his chair and sighed. Across the table from him Touya's plate of food was untouched, though he suspected that was not because the ice demon was as disgusted by the meal as Yusuke himself was.

"Hiei's been gone a long time," Yusuke commented.

"Yes," Touya replied. "I don't like sitting idle at a time like this either."

"That wasn't what I said," Yusuke pointed out.

Touya met his eyes and smiled slightly.

"In a way it was," he said. "I don't see any harm in us going outside and walking around the yard. Perhaps we might learn something. It appears Mukuro is still trying to operate the Border Patrol, if we could liaise with some of the guards involved, they might be able to tell us how the situation is in other parts of Demon World and if there have been problems with demons escaping into the living world."

"Demons escaping into the living world?"

Yusuke dropped his knife to the table with a clatter.

"Let's go," Touya suggested, rising from his seat.

Yusuke stood up and briefly looked about himself, realising that dropping his knife had apparently attracted a bit of attention his way, and none of the faces watching him looked pleased by the interruption.

"Tough crowd…" he grumbled as he followed Touya out of the mess hall – which was, he had learned, another name for a cafeteria.

Outside the sun was starting to rise, though Yusuke had long since lost track of time and what day it was, he was still vaguely surprised that he had been up all night and that Hiei had been missing all night after disappearing with Mukuro upon their arrival. He wondered what was so interesting and so secret that Hiei had to discuss it alone with Mukuro: and he began to suspect that maybe what Touya had suggested about Hiei ultimately opting to remain behind in Alaric might yet prove to be true. He began to think that, if Hiei did refuse to leave Alaric, he would need to get – at the very least – Kurama to come to Demon World to help bolster their efforts to stop the Dark Force, and possibly even Kuwabara and Kuroko Sato's two kids, since those two at least appeared quite capable: though taking Kurama, Kuwabara and the Sato siblings did leave the living world with no defences and very vulnerable. Yusuke wondered if the living world even needed any defences, as, apart from some demon insects, the situation there had seemed quite sedate when he had last visited. He had left Puu there, and although the spirit beast was not exactly a warrior, he could produce a powerful barrier – with a limited range, but that ought to be encompassing enough to protect those left behind in the safe house if they gathered close to him.

Yusuke was so caught up in his own thoughts – a state he had allowed himself to drift into, as the yard outside had proved to be full of the same boring drones trudging about – that he did not really notice that everyone appeared to be moving towards one end of the yard until he heard Touya say his name quite sharply.

"Huh?" he grunted, turning to the shorter demon.

"This doesn't look good, we should investigate," Touya replied.

He was pointing in the direction the others were all moving, and, looking over that way, Yusuke saw a Border Patrol vehicle slowly rolling back into the front yard, being pushed along by four bulky guards, the others all gathering around either side of it and talking frantically amongst themselves. The vehicle looked as though it had taken some damage – which, given the durability of the vehicles, indicated that it had come under substantial attack – the windows were blow out and the crew absent, the cockpit sprayed with blood and entrails. Yusuke could only see one side of the vehicle, but by the way the guards were acting, he assumed the side outwith his line of sight had the same point of interest as the side he could see: another passage had been written in blood, denoting another message from the enemy.

"Damn it, not this crap again…" Yusuke grumbled.

He nodded at Touya and together they hurried over to the nearest side of the vehicle, again finding four lines of text appended with a squiggly, indecipherable symbol.

"The mulberry bush that blooms in the light, and stands tall for the sake of his honour, has lived for too long in an assumed role, but will not bend to the mighty acer," Touya read aloud.

"Oh great," Yusuke groaned. "First he was talking about snow and now it's all about gardening. Two things I hate, don't know anything about and don't care about."

"We should check the other side," Touya replied, unperturbed by Yusuke pessimism.

"Oh yeah, I can't wait to see what other cryptic crap he's scribbled down…"

Yusuke and Touya walked around the edge of the guards – the fact that they had all gathered closely around the vehicle to read the messages only confirmed to Yusuke that they were idiots, since the lettering was large enough to be read from the other end of the yard – until they had reached the other side of the vehicle and gained sight of the second verse, which was again ended with a small squiggly symbol.

"Fulfilling the promise hastily made, and overcome by inexperience, untruths told with surface and break apart, the tree will grow in darkness eternal."

Yusuke's face twisted as Touya finished reading aloud the second verse.

"I have no idea either, I'm afraid," Touya offered, upon seeing his reaction. "But the method the message was delivered by is more telling than the message itself. The enemy is clearly targeting us: how else did it know to leave a message for us in that little market town we passed through? And now, destroying one of the Border Patrol vehicles, one of the symbols of order in this world and protection of the living world, clearly the enemy is trying to intimidate us."

"I'm not intimidated by something that doesn't have the balls to meet me face-to-face," Yusuke replied. "But we need to get back to Chu and we need to find Enki."

"That is perhaps the key to stopping the Dark Force," Touya agreed. "But first I suppose we should clarify whether or not Hiei intends to continue on our journey with us."

"Right…" Yusuke said. "If we can even find him…"

He had hoped that the commotion in the yard would draw Hiei outside, but there was no sign of him, which meant that he and Touya would have to return to waiting in the mess hall: and Yusuke had little patience left for sitting around waiting for Hiei to decide whether or not he was going to honour his promise to remain with the team until the Dark Age was over.

"We could use this moment of general distraction to sneak inside and locate Hiei," Touya suggested. "Under normal circumstances, I would never advise we force our way into the restricted access areas of Mukuro's headquarters, but this is too urgent to wait any longer."

"I like the way you're thinking," Yusuke agreed. "Let's do it."

Together they quickly and quietly crossed the yard: but as they neared a door back inside, Hiei stepped out.

All three stopped.

Something about the look on Hiei's face told Yusuke he had come to deliver more bad news.

* * *

"I can't. It's not something I can do. I have thought about it, but I just can't."

"Won't you even consider it?"

"I already have considered it. I'm not being frivolous. I just can't do it."

"Is there nothing I can do to convince you to change your mind?"

"No… I'm sorry."

Kurama smiled in spite of himself as Kuwabara and Fubuki started to snigger into their hands. All three of them were on the porch watching a scene unfolding in the centre of the front lawn, one that was proving to be a welcome and relaxing distraction from the situation inside the safe house.

"Cucumber is very good for your skin," Shiori insisted, picking up a slice of cucumber from the plate she had placed down at Akira's side. "You can even apply it directly, putting it on your eyes like this."

She leaned her head back and placed the slice of cucumber on her eye to demonstrate her point, but Akira looked even more disgusted than ever: however he quickly hid his repulsion when Shiori lowered her head again and looked directly at him.

"I've tried it before," he said patiently. "Many times. I just can't eat it. It tastes like perfume."

"But you have such lovely skin, don't you want to keep it nice?" Shiori asked.

Akira started to turn red in the face and lowered his head self-consciously.

"Maybe you just don't like it a certain way," Shiori tried. "Have you tried it in sushi? Or as part of a salad or sandwich?"

"I can still taste it," Akira muttered. "The juices get into everything else it touches and it makes everything else taste like perfume. It ruins salads and sandwiches."

"Maybe just try a thin slice."

"I hate it the most when it's thinly sliced. It feels all slimy but it's still crunchy, and the feeling of it like that makes me feel sick."

"How about in cubes?"

"Then you have a cube that's just made out of the slimy seedy bit in the middle, and that's the worst part."

"A cube from the outer edge."

"I don't like the ridged skin."

"But lots of vegetables have a ridged skin."

"I don't like them either."

Fubuki turned away and giggled into her hands.

"The kid is hilarious!" she said. "I love it when he's so blunt and determined and then he apologises for it – but he's only apologising in case he's offended anyone, he doesn't care if they think he's stubborn and rude!"

"Your mom's wasting her time, Kurama," Kuwabara added, turning to Kurama. "I've tried to make Akira try all sorts of food for years. It never works."

"I'll let her know," Kurama replied. "But not right now. Right now my mother's obsession with trying to feed Akira is keeping her occupied, and the longer she remains distracted, the less likely she is to notice how long she has been here or anything bad that happens in the news."

"Well in that case, it looks like your mom is gonna be distracted until the end of time," Fubuki said, rolling her eyes.

"I say let them enjoy the silence, because it doesn't look like it's gonna last long."

Kurama turned as Kaisei moved out to join them on the porch, holding his communication mirror open.

"Message from the boss," he said, turning the communicator around to show Koenma's solemn face.

"And I'm afraid it's bad news," Koenma said.

Kurama, Kuwabara and Fubuki moved in closer to the mirror and Kaisei peered down over the top of it.

"The border between Spirit World and Demon World is surprisingly clear and quiet, but unfortunately the same can't be said for the living world," Koenma said. "Something major has entered the living world, and it's causing havoc less than five miles outside of Tokyo: if that chaos hits the city, what is currently a headline story for the local news will rapidly turn into a headline in the global news, and panic will prevail in the human realm. Get in there quickly and get rid of the problem."

"Can do!" Fubuki said cheerfully. "And Kaisei's on guard duty – again – which means he misses out – again."

"No," Kurama said. "Kuwabara will stay here – he's still not fully healed – and Kaisei will come with us."

"Good luck," Koenma said, before the screen of the communication mirror went blank.

Kaisei closed over the communicator and stuffed it into his shirt pocket.

"I'm happy to go," he said.

"I'm happy to stay, but are you sure you can manage this one without me?" Kuwabara asked Kurama.

"Yes, we'll be fine," Kurama replied.

He was unsure exactly what awaited them, but after witnessing Akira stand up to a B-class demon whilst under the restraint of the Spirit World prison issue collar, and after seeing glimpses of how much faster and stronger he was without it during their training session when he had managed to convince Akira to let him remove the collar, Kurama decided that this latest event would be an ideal opportunity to remove the collar and test how Akira could handle himself against a genuine threat. He was sure it would take some convincing for Akira to allow him to remove the collar, but Kurama felt that he was starting to understand how the boy's mind worked: for all he was sometimes stubborn and often reserved, he had a genuine desire to be agreeable and to not let other people down, and as he seemed to be starting to trust Kurama, he thought that he might be able to use that opening to convince Akira that it would be okay to let him remove the collar in the presence of others.

Kurama was almost certain that turning Akira loose would do no harm. He was almost certain that Spirit World had misjudged the youngster. There was a slight chance that, without the collar, Akira might lose control of his own power – because clearly he had never trained to the fullest limits of his natural abilities – but there was a part of Kurama that wanted to see just how ruthless Akira could be, if only to try to fathom what had happened to the SDF officer named Shun-Jun during their training session.

Along with Kaisei and Fubuki, Kurama started across the lawn, both Shiori and Akira standing up as he approached.

"Excuse me mother, there is somewhere I must go," Kurama said to Shiori.

"That's alright," she replied with a soft smile. "I'm having a nice time here with Akira."

"Akira has to come with me, I'm afraid," Kurama said. "But Keiko and Shizuru are still inside, and I believe they're about to start watching a movie. Why don't you join them?"

"Alright," she said. "It is lovely here. I'm glad I let you convince me to come here for a short break. It is very relaxing."

As Shiori headed back inside, Kaisei, Fubuki and Akira all gave Kurama flat looks.

"I had to tell her something," he whispered.

"You lied to your mom?" Akira asked.

"He could hardly tell her that he was taking her up here so she wouldn't get attacked by demons," Fubuki pointed out. "Though he could have come up with a better excuse than telling her that this was just a short break…"

"What are you gonna tell her when she's still here three weeks from now?" Kaisei asked.

"You lied to you mom?" Akira asked again. "I never lie to my mom!"

"We should hurry to the bus stop," Kurama said.

"I can't believe you lied to your mom…" Akira muttered.

Kurama sighed quietly, inwardly hoping that whatever they were going to confront was something that could be swiftly and simply dealt with.

* * *

Hiei could tell by the look on Yusuke's face that what he had come to tell him would not go over well: but he had no other choice.

"Hiei, we have to leave here," Touya said. "The Dark Force has attacked the Border Patrol, it won't be long before it comes here, we have to try to stop it before it gets this far."

"No," Hiei flatly replied.

Yusuke turned to Touya.

"Could you give me a minute alone with Hiei?" he muttered.

"Only a minute, time is of the essence," Touya said.

"Sure," Yusuke agreed.

Touya nodded and moved away. Yusuke watched him go before slowly turning back to Hiei.

"Don't do this," he said.

"Do what?" Hiei echoed.

"You know what," Yusuke replied. "That thing you're thinking of doing, don't do it."

"I don't have time to guess what you're hinting at, Yusuke," Hiei told him. "That patrol vehicle isn't the only thing the Dark Force has sent back here after us."

"What are you talking about?"

Hiei's eyes moved away from Yusuke as he saw, on the distant horizon, exactly what he had come to tell Yusuke about. And so, since Yusuke was apparently not prepared to listen to him, he simply pointed towards it. Yusuke looked back over his shoulder for a prolonged moment at the approaching hurricane before slowly turning back to face Hiei again.

"So what happened to Chu?" he asked in a low voice.

"I don't know," Hiei replied. "But he isn't amongst those approaching."

"Those?"

Hiei pointed over at the horizon again and again Yusuke turned, this time looking a little more carefully and apparently noticing that the hurricane was not the only hazard drawing closer to them. He turned back to Hiei looking paler and finally a little concerned.

"We have to make a decision, Yusuke," Hiei told him. "We either stay here and fight shoulder-to-shoulder with everyone else here, try to hold this base, or…"

Yusuke leaned forwards slightly and raised his eyebrows as he waited for Hiei to continue. Hiei paused a little longer as he had been sure that their other option was obvious, but when Yusuke held his position, he realised that the mazoku was either not thinking the same way as him or else unable to see the one other option they had left.

"Or we fall back."

"Fall back?"

Hiei grunted in irritation: he had not expected to have to be so explicit, he had assumed that Yusuke would understand.

"If we remain here, we will become entrapped here," he said. "And as long as that is the case, we will be here until the Dark Age ends: and that means we are entrusting the SDF to protect Spirit World from falling and Kurama, Kuwabara and the humans to protect the living world. Are you happy with that? Are you confident that the armies of the other two worlds can hold their own against an enemy that has gone through our defences like a hot knife through butter? Because I'm not. I'm not one for running away from a fight, but I'm not about to let this bastard trap us here – which is what it's about to try to do – so I'm leaving here and I'm going back to the living world to face the enemy there. That "safe house" won't stay safe if we don't go there to guard it."

Yusuke looked surprised and slightly confused.

"And I'm not leaving without you, Yusuke," Hiei added. "So any thoughts you have about waiting here to nobly avenge the deaths of your friends should be put aside, because I will drag you back to the living world by force if I have to."

Yusuke looked weird.

"Hiei…"

"I mean it Yusuke. Get Touya and let's go."

"I could kiss you!"

Hiei dropped out of range, barely managing to escape as Yusuke lunged at him. He looked up to see Yusuke's arms closing around empty air.

"Stop joking around, idiot!" Hiei snapped at him.

"I thought you weren't on our side!" Yusuke said. "I thought you were gonna turn on us! I actually thought you were gonna either want to stay here with Mukuro or else you were gonna turn around and say you'd been working for the Dark Force all along!"

"Don't be such an idiot, Yusuke!" Hiei snorted, straightening up and side-stepping away from him. "I told you before: I don't let anyone or anything control me. Nothing and no-one ever has, and nothing and no-one ever will."

Yusuke was starting to look unsettlingly happy and so Hiei turned his attention to Touya, standing some distance away pretending not to hear what they were saying.

"We're leaving," Hiei called over to him.

"We should go right now," Touya called back.

Hiei turned to Yusuke, who nodded enthusiastically, and together the three remaining members of the Demon World team started towards the back of the yard.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** The LW team find a message from the DF and realise that agents of the DF have reached the LW and Kurama realises that Akira harbours a lot of resentment towards Hiei. Jin catches up to the DW team and brings an unusual form of back-up to battle against them (this is one of the first real instances why it will be obvious why I took the Dragon from Hiei). The LW team find the situation in Tokyo is much worse than they expected, and Kurama quickly comes to regret freeing Akira from the binds of the collar when she turns her increased might on one of her own team mates. **Chapter 23 – So Numb**


	23. so numb

**Chapter 23 – So Numb**

After receiving a second call from Koenma urging them to hurry, Kurama had decided against relying on public transport to relay his team to their destination, instead calling out the mode of transport Yusuke had conveniently left behind. Despite Kaisei and Akira having reservations about riding on Puu's back at first – Fubuki joked that it was the first time she had seen the two of them ever agree on something – all four settled onto Puu's back and he reliably flew them – far faster than any other mode of transport could have – to a small village a few miles outside of Tokyo. He landed in a rice field and the group dismounted, hopping over the fence and stopping on the narrow country road beyond. The village ahead of them was quiet, but the houses had all been demolished, and by the petering remains of a few rogue fires, it seemed as though whatever had caused the devastation had moved on some time ago. Kaisei signalled for the others to investigate and they split up, moving off individually to check the houses.

The first few Kurama approached had been reduced to piles of rubble and charcoal, but he diligently moved aside any roof beams or sections of wall in the off-chance that he might uncover any survivors. He found scant evidence of life – as though the residents of the village had all fled – which implied that the threat was from a large group of weak demons, as stronger demons would have succeeded in killing any humans they encountered. When Fubuki sorrowfully recovered the charred corpse of a pet dog, it occurred to Kurama that having Akira search for bodies was perhaps not the best idea. He stopped and looked around, shortly locating the emiko – mostly thanks to his striking hair colour – standing at the opposite side of the village, his hands hooked under a large section of wall. He lifted the wall effortlessly and moved it aside, placing it down again as though he was concerned about damaging it. He then paused, staring down at the area he had uncovered. Fearing the worst, Kurama hurried over, the smell of blood as he approached only quickening his haste.

"What does that mean?" Akira asked him as he stopped at his side.

Kurama frowned and tilted his head slightly as he found himself looking down at a pale embroidered rug, stained with a message written in blood.

"Brash and bold and never outspoken son, of the mighty king on a throne of light, simple and good intentions just like he, can stand strong before the red-eyed monster," Akira read aloud.

He turned to look up at Kurama through a frown.

"Why would someone write such an odd poem in blood here?" he asked. "And what's that odd shape in the corner?"

Kurama moved his eyes to the symbol Akira was pointing at. It looked vaguely like something from the old language of Demon World, but he did not recognise it. It had been many years since he had last read anything in the old language, but he was confident that he would still recognise something from it, and yet the symbol before him, despite looking like it ought to be something from the old language, made no sense to him.

"I'm not sure," he replied.

He waved to Kaisei and Fubuki to join him. They had to wait a little longer for Fubuki as she finished burying the dog she had found, but as soon as she started jogging over, Kurama continued.

"This message is of the same format as the one Yusuke's team found in Demon World," he said. "It's a message from the Dark Force. In itself, that's not a point of major importance. However, the fact that the Dark Force is able to leave such messages here, in the living world, is a sign that some of the victims of the enemy have started coming here."

"The Dark Force is here, in the living world?" Kaisei asked.

"I thought it only came here after it had taken over Demon World and Spirit World?" Fubuki added.

"The Dark Force has taken over Spirit World?" Akira echoed.

"No, that's not the case," Kurama hurriedly replied. "The presence of controlled demons here, in this world, merely tells us that the Dark Age has entered Stage Two."

"The fall of Demon World?" Kaisei offered.

"Exactly," Kurama confirmed. "This is bad news, and it means we will have to be extra vigilant. No more practise runs, because if Spirit World falls next, the enemy will come here, and we want to avoid that at all costs."

"It might not be the worst thing ever if the Dark Force goes to Spirit World and makes those dolts from the SDF torture each other to death," Fubuki muttered. "Right, Tet?"

Akira shook his head and Fubuki looked confused.

"It would be the worst thing for us if that did happen," Kurama corrected her. "Because the fall of Spirit World would mean the fall of the fighters defending it, and it would mean that we alone remain to stand against the enemy."

There was a short silence, and, looking around the others, Kurama could see that his words had had the desired effect, as all three looked quite anxious.

"So if this message is a sign of Stage Two," Akira began slowly. "And stage two is the fall of Demon World, does that mean that the fighters who were defending Demon World have fallen?"

"Probably yes," Kurama replied. "Though Puu's continued presence here and the fact that he managed to transport us here so efficiently tells us that Yusuke is still in top health, wherever he is."

"But the others might have fallen?" Fubuki asked.

Kurama paused, the look of bated concern on the three faces watching him reminding him how naïve all three of them could be: and as he could see that the situation was getting worse, he decided a dose of reality might be the best medicine at such a time.

"I know for a fact that two members of Yusuke's team have already been killed," he said.

Kaisei and Fubuki looked horrified. Akira looked slightly concerned.

"I think that Yusuke, and any others who have managed to survive, will now be detained somewhere in Demon World," Kurama continued. "The Dark Force will hold them there in a stand-off that will last either until we find the means to return the enemy to its prison or until the enemy succeeds in taking over all three worlds."

"What about Hiei?"

Kurama turned to Akira.

"Do you think Hiei's dead now?" Akira asked, looking and sounding far too flippant about the subject for Kurama's liking.

"He might be," Kurama replied.

Akira nodded, his expression unchanged.

"Don't you care about that at all?" Kurama asked. "I thought you told me you had always wanted to meet Hiei?"

"I did always want to meet him," Akira replied. "And then I did meet him and I realised he's just an asshole who messed my mom around for years because he doesn't care about his family, and now I don't really care if he lives or not."

"If you don't care, then why did you ask?"

"I know my mom will probably be sad when he dies, but maybe she'll be happier once he's gone."

Fubuki and Kaisei exchanged confused and startled looks as Kurama held back a biting retort.

"Let's talk about this later," he said instead. "First of all, we need to track down the cause of this destruction."

"It looks like it went that way, towards the road into the city," Kaisei offered, pointing out one end of the village.

"Go back to Puu, I'll join you in a moment," Kurama replied.

Kaisei nodded and started to jog back towards Puu. Fubuki and Akira moved to follow him but Akira stopped short when Kurama grabbed a hand around his arm. Fubuki carried on as Akira hesitated, looking down at Kurama's hand on his arm.

"I remember what you told me about your first experience of Hiei," Kurama said quietly. "But I believe that may have been a misunderstanding and now I need to know that you are not harbouring any resentment towards Hiei. Feelings like that will be used against you by the Dark Force."

Akira slowly looked up at Kurama.

"I don't resent Hiei," he said.

"Are you sure?" Kurama asked.

The slightly sulky look on his face implied otherwise.

"Yes," Akira replied. "I don't feel anything for him. Not even resentment."

Kurama did not believe Akira, but they did not have the time for him to argue the point. It was something that would have to be addressed before the Dark Age progressed any further: if Stage Two did commence, Yusuke and his team were likely to be driven out of Demon World at some point, and that would mean Hiei arriving back at the safe house, and, by the way Akira was behaving, it did not seem as though the two would be able to live under the same roof.

* * *

Yusuke stumbled to a halt so abruptly he fell down and rolled over himself. He finally came to a stop in a sitting position, covered in dirt and feeling even more humiliated when both Hiei and Touya stopped gracefully at either side of him, on their feet and poised and ready for action. He got back to his feet, patting the dust from his clothing and shaking himself off before looking over at the disturbance in the long grass they had been running through. The trio had been heading for the nearest portal to the living world – which was unfortunately not so nearby – but they had all abruptly stopped when something had fallen from the sky. All three began cautiously moving through the grass towards the newly flattened area, glancing round each other apprehensively as they approached. As the tallest of the three, Yusuke got line of sight of what had been dropped first: and he promptly stopped moving. Touya and Hiei continued on a few steps more before both stopping. Touya muttered something under his breath before his head snapped up and he began looking around the sky for the source of what must have thrown down what they were all standing before.

"Damn it…" Yusuke muttered. "Is he…?"

Hiei took a step forwards, and, as though sensing that he would be tactless about checking, Touya leapt in front of him and crouched down by Chu's side, checking him for any signs of life.

"I'm afraid so," Touya confirmed.

"We have to keep moving," Hiei said.

"No," Yusuke said. "I'm sick of people dying trying to protect me like I'm some sort of princess in a damn tower! I'm not moving from this spot until the bastard responsible for this shows his face and fights me!"

"Yusuke, you really shouldn't goad the Dark Force into fighting you face-to-face," Touya said.

"Why the hell not?" Yusuke snapped at him.

"Because you might not like the face it confronts you with," Hiei answered.

Up until that moment, Yusuke had been determined to get back to the safe house to make sure it was still a safe house; but suddenly he wanted to stay behind and fight the Dark Force alongside Mukuro. For a long moment, Yusuke, Hiei and Touya stood by Chu's side, looking between each other. Just as the moment started to feel uncomfortably tense, all three were thrown to the ground by a blast of wind. Yusuke landed on his side but he quickly rolled onto his back, seeing Jin approaching overhead. He started to sit up, but with a rattling snarl something collided with his chest, knocking him down onto his back again. He paused there, finding himself staring up at a wide-mouthed, furless wolf creature with fangs as long as his index fingers. He vaguely heard Hiei calling them "hell hounds", which seemed like such an oddly appropriate name, he wondered if that was their actual title or if Hiei was just cursing them by that name. When a globule of uncomfortably hot saliva splatted onto his cheek, Yusuke snapped back to his senses and grabbed the wolf by the shoulders and threw it off of himself before leaping to his feet. Before he had even landed on his feet however, another wolf creature jumped onto his back, sending him back down to the ground, face-first. He was ready to push himself up and throw it off, but it did not hesitate to bite into one of his shoulders. Although the bite itself was not especially tight, the length of the wolf's fangs were such that it was able to penetrate down into his bones.

For a horrible moment, Yusuke thought that he might be about to become the latest meal for a pack of the ugliest dogs he had ever seen.

"We have to leave now, Yusuke!"

Yusuke let out a breath of relief as the wolf released its hold of him and staggered away to one side. Hiei yanked his sword out of the animal's flank and waved a hand at Yusuke to keep moving. Yusuke nodded, but when he saw three of the wolves mauling Chu's body he started towards them.

"Yusuke, no!"

Yusuke ignored Touya and continued on, but he had to leap from his chosen path at the last possible second as Jin dived at him. He barely missed becoming a victim to Jin's tornado punch, and only missed a second blow because Touya kicked Jin over.

"Get out of here, Yusuke!" Touya told him.

"We can't let this bastard take Jin and we can't let these dogs eat Chu!" Yusuke argued.

"Go Yusuke," Touya insisted. "Go the living world, regroup, take what you have learned here, get stronger and be prepared for the fight when it comes your way again."

Yusuke opened his mouth to argue again, but stopped when it occurred to him that Touya's choice of words were slightly odd.

"You're coming with us, right?" he asked.

Touya looked down at Jin, who was grinning up at him and getting to his feet again.

"I can grant you the same grace that Chu did for us," Touya replied, turning to Yusuke again. "I will stay here and stall it and stop the wolves from following you. You and Hiei have to go."

Yusuke made a gesture to start telling him that he was being absurd, but when he saw that Hiei was actively trying to retreat from the fight – something he never did – he realised that, yet again, the team had made another decision without him and in spite of his intentions.

"I can't leave you here," he concluded. "We've lost everyone else, we can't lose you too."

"Please Yusuke," Touya said. "You and I will meet again later in this battle. And at that time, we will stand shoulder-to-shoulder, and we will fight to walk in the light. Do you understand?"

Yusuke understood nothing, but Touya had been the most informed about the enemy from the start, and he was old enough to have dealt with the Dark Force before, so if he had managed to survive a Dark Age before, perhaps he could survive one again.

"Yusuke, let's go!" Hiei roared, his voice rough but small as he was some distance away already.

"You better mean what you said," Yusuke said to Touya. "You better stand with me at the end of this."

"You and I will stand together and deliver the Dark Lord to his deserved fate."

Touya looked so determined that Yusuke decided to trust him. He nodded and reluctantly ran after Hiei: but as he joined Hiei and they continued towards the portal to the living world, Yusuke silently wondered why Touya had suddenly both referred to the Dark Force as the "Dark Lord" and said "his" after always insisting that the enemy did not have a specific gender.

* * *

Kurama gasped as he and his team halted at the brim of a sloping road down into the outer edges of Tokyo city. The scene ahead was one of absolute devastation, with buildings burning, sirens wailing in the distance, helicopters swooping overhead and a small hoard of demons tearing a pathway into the capital.

"This is much worse than I expected it to be," he admitted aloud.

"No shit," Kaisei said.

"Let's stand here and talk about it some more," Fubuki added sarcastically.

"You two go ahead," Kurama told them.

They nodded and darted off. Akira looked up at Kurama in a mixture of curiosity and concern. Kurama looked down at him, realising that the subject he had hoped to broach subtly was going to have to be something he forced.

"The fate of all three worlds is at stake here," he said. "The lives of everyone we love and care about are threatened. We have to fight with all we have, or there will be nothing left worth fighting for. Do you understand?"

"I promise I won't hold back," Akira replied earnestly. "I will fight hard. I won't let you down, I promise."

"Do you trust me?" Kurama asked.

"Yes, I do."

"That's good."

Kurama grabbed the collar around and Akira's neck and tore it loose effortlessly. Akira gasped and frantically touched his hands to his neck as though he expected to still feel the collar there, despite his widened eyes being on the collar in Kurama's hand.

"I need you performing at the absolute maximum of your ability," Kurama calmly explained. "And now you can do that."

"H-how did you manage to just take it off like that?" Akira wailed, meeting his eyes.

He looked like he might cry, but Kurama did not have time to be sympathetic.

"I put it back on you after our last training session," he pointed out. "As the person who applied it, I am the one who could remove it."

Akira's panicked expression slowly gave way to one of suspicion.

"You tricked me?" he asked in a small voice.

"No, I genuinely wanted to know what you were capable of without the collar," Kurama replied. "Only after I had put it back on did I realise that this would be the outcome. But you should rest assured that nobody from Spirit World can see you now and that I am in charge of this situation and I want you to prove to me that you meant what you said when you said you were loyal to our team."

"I am loyal to the team," Akira hurriedly answered.

"Then prove it to me," Kurama said, deciding to be a little manipulative again, as the situation was too desperate for any margin of error. "Fight with everything you have. I don't care how ruthless you are and I don't care if you use demon energy or not. Just don't let me down."

Kurama's last words had the desired effect, as he saw Akira visibly falter upon hearing them.

"I won't let you down," he said. "I promise."

Kurama nodded and then stuffed the collar into one of the pockets on his jeans before running after Kaisei and Fubuki. Akira ran after him, shortly passing him and then leaping up into the air. Kurama slowed as he joined the Sato siblings, all three looking about themselves.

"They all ran off all of a sudden," Kaisei explained when Kurama gave him a questioning look.

"We were surrounded a minute ago," Fubuki added. "I guess they sensed your arrival and took off, huh foxy?"

She smiled but Kurama did not share her confidence. Both the immediate lack of any enemies and Akira's disappearance were causes for concern. A swishing sound overhead drew his attention upwards and he started to shout out to Kaisei and Fubuki to prepare for an attack from bat demons: but he stopped when five bat demons fell to the road around them, one by one, each with a ninja star embedded in their necks. Akira landed on the road a few seconds later, looking directly over at Kurama.

"There's a really large demon up ahead," he said. "And some more demons about your size in the next street over."

Kurama nodded.

"Kaisei, Fubuki, you go over to the next street and take care of what's there," he said. "Akira, you come with me. We're going after the big one."

Everyone nodded and moved out as per Kurama's orders. As they continued along the road, Kurama realised that what he and Akira were pursuing was in fact an A-class demon: and although he was deeply concerned that an A-class demon had arrived in the living world, he was equally curious to see how Akira would hold up against such an opponent when fighting freely.

* * *

After the humiliation of running away from a battle and the irritating, constant interruptions from minor pests on the way to the portal out of Demon World, Hiei was already irritable when he arrived in the living world, and so arriving to feel the sickening presence of an A-class demon several miles away was enough to push him over the edge.

"What the hell is that?" Yusuke demanded, looking and sounding as irate as Hiei felt. "How the hell has something that powerful made it into this world and why didn't somebody try to stop it? Where the hell are Kuwabara and Kurama? They should be kicking that bastard's ass right now!"

"Maybe they are," Hiei grumbled. "Kuwabara is horribly out of condition and aging, and Kurama has grown weak from living in this world too long."

"Damn it, we had it bad enough in Demon World, why can't they take care of something like this without us?" Yusuke ranted.

"Apparently they need us here," Hiei replied. "We'd better go: if we don't lend a hand, it will end in disaster. It's just as well we got here when we did."

"Right. Let's remind them how it's done."

Yusuke and Hiei took off at top speed, shortly reaching their destination, where they gradually slowed, until they reached the roof of a tall building partway into the semi-demolished human city. Hiei's anger sky-rocketed when he saw the two arrogant humans standing either side of Kurama on the road, all three watching on as the obnoxious little brat in ninja clothing stabbed a knife into the back of an A-class horse demon that was the height of a twelve-storey building and then slid down it's back, tearing open an enormous gash. He then leapt away and scaled his way up to the top of a smaller building in a few easy leaps, and, as though to really add insult to injury, he began gathering demon energy between his hands that swirled into the black light of the Darkness Flame.

"I don't remember that little kid being that fast…" Yusuke muttered. "Or that strong…"

Hiei did not care what Yusuke thought. The sheer arrogance of the kid was infuriating: after a messy attack with a knife, he was taking far too long to charge an attack that would ultimately be far too weak to have any significant effect on a beast as powerful as the one he was facing. The only thing more painful for Hiei than watching the bastard offspring of Kuwabara perform so poorly in battle was the way everyone else – especially Yusuke and Kurama – were just standing about watching on instead of jumping in and finishing the horse demon in the way the little brat would clearly never be able to.

Hiei sighed and drew out his sword, flinging aside his cloak and taking a running leap off the roof of the building he had been standing on alongside Yusuke. As he soared through the air in a downward arc towards the horse demon's large shoulders, he swung his sword out to one side, readying himself to slice through the creature neck from behind and remove its head with the momentum of his attack: but Hiei shortly found himself facing off against an entirely different opponent.

Had the blast of darkness flame hit Hiei as he landed on the horse demon, he might have been able to excuse it as poor aim from the clearly inexperienced young emiko: but the blow hit him in the chest long before he reached his intended target, and, looking up at where the kid was still standing, he had clearly altered the angle he was aiming to deliberately throw his attack – which was clearly still not even fully-charged – at Hiei.

Hiei was able to shake it off, but as he had not been anticipating the blow, it succeeded in knocking him off-course. He managed to land on a streetlight, whereupon he lifted his head once more to the building Akira had launched the attack from.

The kid was gone.

Hiei's elbow swung around before he even had the time to turn his head and he allowed himself a satisfied grin when the bone of his elbow collided hard with the kid's cheekbone and sent him crashing to the street below. Hiei hopped down, and, despite having landed on the underside of an upturned car, the kid leapt to his feet again, his face filled with rage and vigour. He had left an imprint of himself on the car chassis, but he appeared not to care.

"I suggest you stop now," Hiei warned him. "I could easily kill you if I wanted to."

"I know that," Akira replied without hesitation. "You already tried to kill me, remember? I don't care what you do to me. This isn't about me and this isn't about you. This isn't even about us."

Hiei frowned, Akira – and his choice of words – suddenly sounding strangely familiar.

"This is about all the pain you've caused my mother," Akira continued. "All she ever wanted was for you to love her and for us all to be a family. I know you're emotionally retarded, so there's nothing I can do to make you feel the same awful emotional pain you've inflicted on mom all these years, but I can cause you physical pain, and I know that's the one thing you do understand."

"You've got a very big mouth," Hiei growled. "It will get you in a lot of trouble."

"I'm only being honest," Akira spat back. "It's a trait I inherited from my mother."

"You're not being honest, you're being a blind, stubborn, arrogant fool, who thinks he's more powerful than he actually is," Hiei retorted. "And those are not qualities you inherited from your mother: those are qualities you inherited from your father."

"Ha!"

Hiei faltered slightly when Akira grinned in an expression of genuine amusement.

"It looks like we actually agree on something," he said. "Because I would absolutely describe my "father" as a blind, stubborn, arrogant fool, who thinks he's more powerful than he actually is."

Hiei paused, wondering if, by the way Akira had said "father", he actually knew that Kuwabara was not his biological father. He had assumed that the kid had been raised to believe that Kuwabara was his father, especially since Yukina had married the oaf. But he did not have long to contemplate the matter, as Akira fearlessly – and frankly rather stupidly – threw a knife at Hiei.

Hiei batted aside the attack with his sword and the two charged at each other, exchanging blows briefly before Hiei managed to kick the kid in the gut and flatten him to the ground. He quickly grabbed a hand around Akira's throat and pinned him down, though that did not stop the little brat from violently flailing around, trying to kick Hiei with his legs and clawing at Hiei's arm with both his hands.

"Maybe if you hadn't lived a coddled life under Kuwabara's over-protective parentage, you might have proved to be something of a challenge for me," Hiei told him. "But as it is, you are out of shape, lacking in experience and your arrogant sense of entitlement makes you a very sore loser."

Akira paused, his legs resting still against the ground and his hands lessening their grip on Hiei's arm.

"You know nothing of my life," he said quietly.

"I know you weren't raised in Demon World," Hiei replied. "Which you should have been, because only in Demon World could you have actually amounted to anything worthy."

"Did you seriously just say that I should have been raised in Demon World?" Akira shrieked, his voice suddenly rising an entire octave and sounding hysterical.

"Yes," Hiei confirmed.

"Really? And who would have raised me in Demon World? Because you certainly wouldn't have, would you, Hiei?"

"You're not my responsibility."

Akira's anger vanished in an instant, his mouth falling open and his eyes growing wide. He looked horrified and borderline tearful, and it was a look Hiei found quite difficult to behold because, despite the kid being his sister's child, he somehow had exactly the same eyes as Hiei did, and it was difficult for Hiei to look at Akira's face without seeing a much younger version of himself.

"If I let you go, will you stop acting like a brat?" Hiei asked.

Akira's expression hardened and his grip on Hiei's arm tightened again.

"Don't blame me for your parents' inability to raise you properly."

Akira's eyes pinpricked and his mouth tightened and, for the briefest moment, something about the look in his eyes seemed familiar to Hiei, and not just because it was the sort of expression he himself often wore when he was outraged by something.

"Fuck you!"

Hiei was momentarily shocked at the little kid's words, and, in that moment of brief distraction, he failed to notice that Akira had released his arm. Hiei only realised that Akira's hands were suddenly directly in front of his chest when he felt the heat of a blast of energy colliding with his torso. And he was unsure if he was horrified or actually slightly impressed when he found himself flying backwards through the air.

Hiei crashed into a mailbox but he quickly got back to his feet. His chest ached and burned in a way it had not done for quite some time: apparently Yusuke's initial assessment had been correct, apparently the kid had been holding back his power somewhat in the past. But, as Hiei made to march over to Akira again, Yusuke leapt into his path.

"Whoa, we're all on the same side here, right?" he asked.

Hiei leaned to one side to see past Yusuke, watching as Kurama approached Akira, who suddenly looked panicked.

"Are you okay?" Kurama asked him.

"Put it back on!" Akira wailed at him. "Quickly! You have to put it back on before it happens again!"

Kurama reached into a pocket and produced what looked like a Spirit World prison issue collar.

"Put it back on before they get here and see that you took it off!" Akira cried.

"Okay, if that's what you want," Kurama replied.

Hiei screwed up his face in disbelief as Kurama put the Spirit World device onto Akira.

"So me and Kurama took care of the giant horse," Yusuke said as Hiei continued watching Kurama and Akira. "You know, while you were here, beating the crap out of your sister's kid. You're welcome, by the way."

The two humans who had been training with Kuwabara joined Kurama. The boy began asking questions and the girl approached Akira. She put a hand on his shoulder and he tensed, but when she opened her arms he stepped into her embrace, winding his arms around her waist and holding onto her tightly.

"Hn, miserable little brat," Hiei grumbled.

Yusuke looked back over his shoulder at Akira as Fubuki gently stroked his hair and muttered something to him.

"What's your problem with the kid?" Yusuke asked, turning back to Hiei. "Sure he's kinda creepy and annoying and maybe a bit arrogant, but, you know, so are you. And the rest of us don't go around trying to strangle the life out of you… Not even when you probably deserve it…"

"Shut up, Yusuke!" Hiei snapped.

Yusuke gave him a strange look, but he shortly looked away as Kurama joined them.

"I assume your arrival here is a bad sign," the fox demon greeted them. "And it's just the two of you?"

"Yeah," Yusuke replied. "We lost Rinku, Shishiwakamaru, Suzuka and Chu."

"They died?" Kurama asked.

Yusuke nodded solemnly.

"And what of Jin and Touya?" Kurama asked.

"We left them fighting each other in Demon World," Yusuke replied.

Kurama looked horrified – and especially so as it was rare that he showed any extreme expression of emotion.

"It wasn't my idea to leave them there beating each other's brains out," Yusuke grumbled.

"Jin was being controlled by the Dark Force," Hiei pointed out. "And Touya offered to stay to fight him to allow us a swifter passage back here to the living world."

"So would it be safe to say that the Dark Age is well into stage two?" Kurama asked him.

"Yes," Hiei replied. "We came here because we had genuine concerns about the ability of those left behind here to keep the safe house safe. And by the looks of things, it's just as well that we got here when we did."

Hiei cast a pointed glare over at Akira, who was still standing with Fubuki. He was standing back from her, but she had his face in her hands and she was talking to him like he was something precious and not a powerful half-demon.

"Keep that little pest away from me," Hiei added, turning back to Kurama.

"You were very wrong to attack that child the way you did, Hiei."

Hiei's face twisted in disbelief at Kurama's response.

"You know nothing of the horrors that child has endured," the fox demon continued, looking decidedly resolute in his conviction. "It was wrong of him to attack you, but surely you understand why he did: the first time he met you, you tried to kill him."

"Because I held my sword to the back of his neck?" Hiei asked. "I only did that because he jumped me in the forest and I thought he was one of the Dark Force's puppets!"

"I'm not talking about that incident, Hiei," Kurama replied.

Hiei could still not believe how angry Kurama looked and sounded.

"I'm talking about the day you met Akira on High Road, four years ago."

Hiei relaxed a little then.

"So it was him that came to Demon World that day with the ferry girl," he muttered, speaking more to himself than answering Kurama. "I was doing my duty. He was fighting dragon fish over the site of the Dark Force's prison. For all we know, it's his fault the Dark Age came early!"

Hiei glowered at Kurama, waiting for him to acknowledge the accusation he had just levied at the irritating child: but instead, Kurama turned slightly pale, his eyes grew slightly wider, and his mouth shrank as though he had something bitter in his mouth. Hiei growled in frustration and stomped off: apparently Kurama really had been spending far too much time in the living world if he could not see what a menace the kid was.

* * *

Kurama was unable to move or speak as he watched Hiei walk away. He felt both incredibly stupid for not having noticed the truth before and torn between being angered at Koenma for banning anyone from enlightening him and sympathetic as to why Koenma would want to keep such a secret concealed. The Dark Force was going to delight in exploiting it, and it was just yet another reason the enemy could not be allowed to venture into the living world.

It was also clearly why Koenma had strategically placed Hiei in the team defending Demon World, Akira in the team defending the living world and kept Botan in Spirit World.

Kurama moved his eyes to his side as Akira joined him, looking up at him through eyes filled with uncried tears and anxiety: a look that was doubly unsettling to see in eyes that were identical to Hiei's.

"Excuse me Kurama," he said softly. "May I please borrow your communication mirror?"

"To call your mother?" Kurama asked.

Akira nodded.

Kurama reached into his pocket and produced the Spirit World communicator, pausing briefly to look down at it.

"Koenma didn't let you have one of these because he didn't want you to have contact with your mother?" he asked, his eyes still on the device.

"He said it was too dangerous for mom and I to be together during the Dark Age," Akira replied. "He said the Dark Force would come between us, because we're so close."

Kurama nodded and passed the communication mirror to Akira; but as Akira took hold of it, Kurama tightened his grip. Akira looked up at him worriedly when he failed to release it into his possession.

"Why do you call Hiei by his name?" Kurama asked.

"Why not?" Akira replied.

"Well, you call your mother "mom"," Kurama pointed out. "Wouldn't it be appropriate for you to call your father "dad"?"

"I would call him that if he knew how to be a dad," Akira coldly replied. "But clearly he doesn't."

Kurama released the communication device and Akira flipped it open. His fingers started for the call buttons, but stopped just short of their target, his jaw falling open and large red eyes lifting to Kurama.

"You didn't know that Hiei is my father?" he asked incredulously.

"Nobody told me," Kurama replied.

"I know nobody is allowed to talk about it," Akira replied, starting to look and sound irritated. "And I could understand some people not knowing, but I thought you were supposed to be Hiei's best friend? How can you not know that he's my father if he's your best friend?"

"Nobody told me," Kurama repeated.

Akira looked furious – and undeniably like Hiei's child.

"Yes, well, I suppose I should have figured it out for myself," Kurama hurriedly added. "You're clearly not a full emiko, and not just because you can use spirit energy. The fact that you don't create hiruiseki when you cry also indicates that you're not the child of an ice maiden and a man. And I did know, after you told me, that Kuwabara was not your father, and it did seem odd that Yukina would have been with another man–"

"Hiei didn't tell you about me?" Akira cut him off.

"No."

"You're his best friend, and he didn't tell you about me? In the last fifteen years, since he first got my mom pregnant, he never bothered telling his own best friend that he was a father?"

"No."

"So I'm right. He's the worst excuse for a father in the whole of existence, and he's ashamed of me, and he tried to kill me on High Road that day because he'd rather I died than he had to admit to being my father! He's an asshole!"

Kurama did not know what to say. He was still reeling from what he had just figured out – and had confirmed – and he was still trying to guess when Hiei and Botan had ever had such an intimate relationship.

"Akira!"

Kurama snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of Botan's voice through the communicator.

"Hi mom," Akira replied. "I need to talk to you."

"Is everything okay, pumpkin?" Botan's voice asked.

"No, it's not!" Akira said. "I just had a fight with Hiei."

"What?"

"I swore at him."

"What?"

"You weren't there, mom! Everything's been really difficult here lately, and he was being such an asshole!"

"Akira, don't call your father that word!"

Akira visibly faltered.

"Sorry mom," he said awkwardly. "But I can't think of a better word to describe him."

"Well you'd better think of one very quickly, because there's no excuse for using language like that!" Botan snapped back. "I didn't teach you to use language like that!"

"Mom, it's like almost the end of all three worlds right now, I don't think anyone cares if I call Hiei an asshole."

"It might well be the end of all three worlds, but it's not the end of civilisation!"

"It kind of is though…"

"But it's not the end of civilised behaviour! You better apologise!"

Akira's face changed instantly, and he went back to looking exactly like Hiei.

"To Hiei?" he asked. "I'm not apologising to Hiei! He should apologise to me for trying to kill me! And for being a lousy father! He didn't even tell Kurama about me! He's so ashamed of me, he doesn't even admit that he's my father!"

There was a long pause before Botan answered.

"Is Kurama there with you, pumpkin?" she asked.

"Yeah, he's right here," Akira replied, pointing at Kurama in a way the communication mirror would not have been able to pick up on.

"Where are you right now?" Botan asked.

"Tokyo?"

"I'll be right there."

Akira opened his mouth to argue, but the glow of the mirror faded and he was left staring at a blank screen. He slowly lifted his eyes to Kurama, looking a little embarrassed then.

"So um…" he began, closing over the communication mirror. "I'm sorry I used the F-word and I'm sorry you heard me calling Hiei an asshole."

Kurama accepted his communicator back, unable to ignore Akira's choice of words.

"You're sorry that I heard you call Hiei an asshole," he said. "But you're not sorry that you called Hiei an asshole?"

"No," Akira plainly replied. "I'm never sorry for speaking the truth."

Kurama nodded and returned the communicator to his pocket.

"I can see this is going to be an interesting night…" he muttered.

* * *

**Next Chapter: **Botan arrives in the LW and panics that she has more reasons to worry about Akira than just the fighting. Yusuke catches up with Kurama and reveals that he has been doing a little detective work that Kurama understands the results of better than Yusuke himself does. Botan and Kuwabara fill in a few gaps for Kurama, and suddenly the potential for the Dark Force to cause absolute ruin seems all the more apparent. **Chapter 24 – Family Ties**

**A/N: **As from the next chapter, I'll probably need to up the rating on this fic. I'm saying this now because once I change this to an "M" rating, it will vanish off the main page, so just to remind anyone who wants to continue reading to remember to filter for "all" ratings of fics.


	24. Family Ties

**Chapter 24 – Family Ties**

Botan's heart was thundering in her chest when she saw the smoke and devastation covering a large part of one outer edge of Tokyo city. As though the call she had received from Akira were not distressing enough, she had learned – from one of the other ferry girls who had witnessed some of the events during one of her shifts – two SDF officers had somehow ended up at the safe house and they had attacked Akira.

And one of them had been Shun-Jun.

Botan eventually spotted a familiar, large, blue feathery mass, and she dived down towards it, leaping off her oar and finding herself standing between Puu and Yusuke and Hiei.

"Botan!" Yusuke said, brightening upon seeing her. "Great, we need to get out of here, and we won't all fit on Puu. How many passengers could you take on your oar?"

"Yusuke go take a walk," Botan flatly replied.

Yusuke looked genuinely insulted for a brief moment.

"I'm fine thanks Botan, how are you?" he snapped once he had recovered from his initial moment of wounded ego. "It's not like I had to bury two of my friends, cremate one and watch the other one get mauled by a pack of hairless dogs!"

Botan turned fully towards him, feeling a little guilty then.

"I'm sorry Yusuke," she said. "That does sound awful and I know you must have been through a lot lately. But I really need to speak to Hiei right now."

Hiei's head snapped around upon hearing his name, his eyes darting back and forth between Botan and Yusuke.

"It's really, really important," she added.

"You don't have anything to say to me, ferry girl," Hiei said. "Not anything you can't say in front of Yusuke, anyway."

"Yeah, Botan!" Yusuke added. "Friends don't keep secrets from friends!"

"Yusuke, please," Botan implored, hoping to convey to him through her tone and expression that this was not the time or place for joking around.

"The two of us have nothing to discuss," Hiei said sharply.

Botan was growing weary of hearing him say those words to her.

"Hey, this isn't about that time I tried to make the two of you hook up during the first Demon World Tournament, is it?" Yusuke asked, laughing as though what he was talking about was funny.

Hiei turned slightly red and he fixed Yusuke with a death glare. Botan sighed. She already knew that he was ashamed of what had taken place between them and that he hated to be reminded of it: but she needed him to listen to her long enough for her to tell him exactly what had become of Akira since their meeting on High Road four years earlier.

But, as always seemed to be the case whenever she tried to get Hiei alone to talk to him, other people butted in and Botan was relegated to the sidelines.

"Hey Botan!" Fubuki said cheerfully as she joined the group. "We've just had a pretty crazy ride here – you're not here to tell us there's another demon someplace else we have to go fight, right?"

"No, I'm not," Botan said through a sigh.

"My sister's tired herself out," Kaisei said. "I wouldn't mind if there was another enemy: I'm fit for another fight."

Botan gave him a long hard look.

"Okay," she said semi-sarcastically. "Excuse me."

Realising that she would not get her moment with Hiei right then, Botan left the group and instead approached Akira, who was standing some distance away from the others with Kurama, who looked slightly apprehensive to see Botan approaching them.

"Well?" Botan asked, folding her arms as she stopped in front of Akira.

"I apologised to Kurama," Akira mumbled, looking down at the ground.

"That's Mister Kurama to you!" Botan snapped.

Akira suddenly looked up, fixing Botan with that look that always reminded her so starkly of Hiei.

"Kurama's my friend," she said in a tone not entirely dissimilar to one her father would use when he was growing impatient with someone. "It's okay for me to call him Kurama."

"It's polite to call him Mister Kurama," Botan reminded her.

"It's fine for Akira to call me Kurama," Kurama offered.

Botan gave him a hard look and he flinched slightly before forcing one of his appeasing smiles.

"Who told you I was Akira's mother?" Botan asked him, lowering her voice to ensure nobody else would hear her.

"I figured it out myself," Kurama replied. "It was rather obvious."

Botan looked down at Akira for a moment before sighing.

"It's the hair, isn't it?" she whispered, turning back to Kurama. "Lord Koenma said that everyone would assume that Akira was Kuwabara and Yukina's child, but the hair gives it away, doesn't it?"

"What about my hair?" Akira asked, starting to blush slightly.

"The colour of your hair pumpkin," Botan replied. "Do you remember what we said?"

"Oh, yeah, that, right," Akira muttered, looking down at her feet again. "Because you have blue hair and Hiei has black hair."

"Oh…"

Botan turned to Kurama, for although he had only made the noise of realisation very softly, it had seemed quite significant.

"It hadn't occurred to me before that Akira has a unique genetic mutation," he explained.

"Did you just say I'm a mutant?" Akira yelped.

"No," Botan quickly replied.

Akira looked less than sure, but Botan just patted her on the shoulder before turning back to Kurama.

"Does everyone know?" she asked him.

"Does everyone know…" Kurama began slowly.

"That Hiei and I are Akira's parents?" Botan pressed.

"No," Kurama replied. "At least, I don't think so. Kaisei and Fubuki certainly don't seem to think so, and Yusuke doesn't know either."

"That's probably best," Botan said.

"So Hiei didn't tell Yusuke about me either?"

Botan turned to Akira.

"Mister Urameshi," she corrected her.

Akira gave her a withering look.

"Once the Dark Age is over, we can discuss this," Botan added.

"Nothing to discuss," Akira said with a shrug. "I don't care. Just do whatever. We're going to live by the beach and we never have to talk about Hiei again after that, right?"

Botan hesitated and Akira narrowed her eyes in another look that was more common on her father's face – and one that she had only started using in recent years.

"Lord Koenma's going to renege on the contract he signed, isn't he?" she asked.

"Once the Dark Age is over, we can discuss that," Botan carefully replied.

"Once the Dark Age is over, it will be too late to discuss it!" Akira snapped.

"I hate to interrupt, but we do need to leave this place," Kurama said.

Botan turned to him harshly at first, but when she found him looking back at her quite sternly she relinquished.

"Yes, of course," she agreed.

"I think Fubuki's waving at you, Kurama," Akira said, pointing over at the others.

"Mister Kurama," Botan muttered under her breath.

"We're friends," Akira stubbornly replied.

"It's really fine for Akira to call me Kurama," Kurama insisted. "We are friends."

He smiled and winked at Akira in what appeared to just be a friendly gesture, but when Botan turned to Akira and saw a strange look and slightly gooey smile appear on her face, a sickening thought occurred to her.

"Hey, Puu can only carry four people," Fubuki shouted over.

She had run halfway over from the others towards Botan, Kurama and Akira.

"So me, my brother, Yusuke and Hiei are taking the bird," she continued. "Botan, can you take Akira and Kurama on your oar?"

"No," Botan immediately replied before anyone else could respond. "Kurama should go with the boys."

She put a hand on the small of Kurama's back and pushed him towards Fubuki.

"You come with us, Fubuki," Botan said.

"Why?" Fubuki asked.

Botan wanted to yell at her not to ask stupid questions, but she controlled herself and tried to remain diplomatic.

"Because I use spirit energy to fly my oar, and I can only manage one passenger or two light passengers," she lied. "So I'll take you two girls, and Kurama can fly with Yusuke and Hiei and they can discuss what's been happening in Demon World."

"Well, I wanna know what's been happening in Demon World too," Fubuki said. "Hey, I know! Me and Kurama will go on Puu with Yusuke and my brother, and Yusuke can tell me, Kurama and my brother about Demon World, and you can take Hiei and Akira, and Hiei can tell you and Akira about what's been happening in Demon World. Also, Hiei's like half my size, he's gotta be lighter than me for you to take as a passenger."

"No men on the oar!" Botan snapped.

"What?" Fubuki and Akira both asked.

"Just… Do what I said the first time!" Botan responded irritably.

Kurama gave her a strange look, but nodded at Fubuki and then started towards the others. Fubuki pulled a face at him as she passed him on her way to join Botan and Akira, but Botan pretended she had not noticed. Botan waited until Puu had taken the men out of sight before turning to Fubuki.

"Could you just give me two minutes with Akira please?" she said as sweetly as she could.

"Okay, but I think we should leave soon, so make it quick," Fubuki replied.

"The quicker you move away, the quicker I can start and finish, and the quicker we can leave," Botan sarcastically replied.

Fubuki nodded, though she looked a little surprised and insulted, and she obediently jogged away from them.

"I'm allowed to call him Kurama, mom," Akira moaned.

Botan spun around and glared down at her.

"But you're absolutely not allowed to have a crush on him!" she snapped.

Akira's jaw dropped and her eyes grew enormous – but, Botan noticed, she made no attempt to deny the accusation.

"Akira, you are a very young girl and he is a very old man!" Botan continued.

"I'm not a young girl!" Akira argued, starting to look angered. "I'm a young woman now."

"You're fourteen years old!" Botan pointed out.

"Yeah, but even you admitted I'm mature now," Akira said, folding her arms over her chest.

"Yes, you've matured into a sulky teenager that I sometimes cannot reason with…" Botan growled.

"You can't tell me what to think."

"Akira, Kurama is a very old man – and what you can see of him right now is not the real him. He is not a pretty man in his thirties, he's a vicious old fox demon, and he is your father's best friend! Are you trying to cause drama?"

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Really?"

"Really."

"So you don't have a crush on Kurama?"

"…Crush is a really dumb word."

Botan sighed.

"Akira… Please don't do this!" she begged. "I think you're just angry at your father–"

"Hiei's not my father," Akira muttered.

"Yes he is Akira," Botan corrected her.

"Nope."

"Yes."

"No."

"He's the only man I've been with – are you implying I might have been with another man?"

"No."

"Because if I hadn't been with Hiei at all, you wouldn't even exist."

"I'd rather not exist than be related to him."

Botan groaned.

"We'll talk about this later," she said.

"After the Dark Age?" Akira asked.

"No, little miss sarcastic pants, we'll talk about it later today!" Botan replied. "Fubuki!"

Botan practically screamed the girl's name, but Fubuki appeared not to care, as she happily jogged back over and smiled at them.

"We're leaving," Botan told her as she summoned her oar.

She sat down and Fubuki sat at her side, looking about herself.

"Hey Tet, there's not much room for you," she commented. "Can you sit on the blade?"

Botan started to protest that sitting on the blade would affect her ability to steer and that Fubuki ought to shuffle over a bit, but before she could finish, Fubuki had grabbed Akira and pulled her down to sit on her lap.

"You can just sit here with me, kid," Fubuki said cheerfully.

"Okay," Akira replied.

"Are you sure you'll both be comfortable like that?" Botan asked as she started to lift them up into the sky.

"Yeah, it's no bother!" Fubuki replied.

"You're very close…" Botan grumbled.

"We're the best of friends," Fubuki said. "Right, Akira?"

"Yeah, we're friends," Akira said. "Fubuki's really cool."

"Akira helps me do my hair and my nails and we talk about life," Fubuki told Botan. "It's great. Akira's like my little sounding board when I'm having man trouble or family issues."

"That does sound great," Botan replied.

"It really is!" Fubuki said brightly.

"As a mother, I have absolutely no concerns about the fact that my teenage daughter has a crush on her father's best friend and her own best friend is a randy grown woman who encourages her to chase after men."

"What?"

"Nothing…"

* * *

"And then we got back here, realised Godzilla's equine cousin was raining hell down on Tokyo, and we came this way, and that's when we found you guys."

Kurama nodded as Yusuke finally finished recapping everything that had happened to him and Hiei since the commencement of their efforts in Demon World.

"I'm surprised you know what the word "equine" means," Kaisei commented.

"I'm not an idiot!" Yusuke snapped at him.

"That is grave news that we have lost four fighters and valued friends," Kurama said solemnly.

"It's worse that one of our allies is an agent of the enemy now," Hiei replied.

Kurama gave him a hard look, but found himself unable to maintain it as it was returned with a look that might as well have come from Akira.

"It is also quite dire that Jin is now effectively our enemy," Kurama conceded.

"He's not our enemy, he's just saying a bunch of stuff he doesn't want to!" Yusuke argued.

"I'm glad you've been able to keep sight of that fact," Kurama said.

"I'm not," Hiei grumbled. "Once someone falls victim to the Dark Force, they are the Dark Force, and trying to think of them as anything otherwise only weakens our defences and slows our efforts to push the enemy back."

Kurama turned to Yusuke to attempt to rephrase what Hiei had just said in a more diplomatic manner – as it was, after all, a quite valid point – but stopped when he found Yusuke sneering at Hiei.

"He's been like this since the start," Yusuke complained. "Rinku would still be alive and fighting with us if Hiei hadn't had that attitude. Rinku saw through Risho, and if Hiei hadn't killed him, he probably would have helped the rest of us to see that Risho was wrong before he managed to kill Shishi. And then if Rinku and Shishi hadn't died, we might have–"

"Yusuke, I do appreciate how you feel, but this is not the time for hesitation or regrets," Kurama gently interrupted him.

"Does all of this mean the Dark Age is actually at stage two now?" Kaisei asked.

"Yes, it does," Hiei replied before anyone else could.

He turned to Kaisei with a hint of a condescending smirk on his face that Kurama found to be highly inappropriate under the circumstances.

"I hope you're little play sessions with your coquettish sister and the volatile child have been productive," he continued, his tone suddenly dripping with sarcasm. "Because stage two of the Dark Age means stage two of the defence plan: Yusuke and I will be stationed here, in the living world, and neither of us will tolerate any deadweight on our team."

"You don't have to worry about me, Hiei," Kaisei confidently replied. "And my sister might be coquettish, but she's just as tough as I am. She's probably a little stronger, but I'm definitely faster. We're both better fighters than Kuwabara."

Yusuke shot Kurama a dark look, but Kurama gave a small shake of his head to warn him not to comment: Kaisei had clearly never seen the fullest extent of Kuwabara's powers, or else his ego was much more inflated than Kurama had originally thought it to be.

"The kid is unreliable, that's true," Kaisei continued. "But he is useful for scouting work and he's small enough to crawl into air ducts, so sometimes he can be quite useful for stealth missions."

"I dunno, I've heard the kid is actually pretty tough, but he hides it."

Kurama, Hiei and Kaisei all slowly turned to Yusuke, who was looking down at Puu's back as he eased out a loose feather. Kurama was almost certain that Yusuke was merely trying to wind Kaisei up, but he did not have that telltale cheeky glimmer he usually got in his eye when he was setting up a joke.

"I did a little background check on the three of you."

Kaisei's face dropped when Yusuke lifted his head and met his eyes.

"When did you do that?" Kurama asked.

"Clearly he's making an attempt at a joke," Hiei snorted. "He may have been a detective for Spirit World, but investigative work was never his forte…"

"Well, screw you three eyes, because I'm telling the truth," Yusuke casually replied, keeping his eyes on Kaisei. "I wasn't happy leaving everyone in the safe house with only Kuwabara and Kurama to protect them, so I made a few calls."

"Are we expected to believe that you called people from Demon World to check up on me?" Kaisei asked him.

"I called Keiko," Yusuke replied. "And Shizuru. Because I can do that. Because they have communication mirrors."

Kaisei twitched and Kurama started to grow curious: after all the arguments Keiko had had with Kaisei, she surely would not have given him a fair appraisal to Yusuke.

"And I called Koenma," Yusuke added.

Hiei was starting to look mildly curious.

"And Botan."

Kurama gulped, his eyes moving to Hiei. He was not really sure what Hiei's past relationship with Akira was, but from their present relationship, it appeared as though he had either denied the child from birth or else disowned him, and Hiei would surely not want to discuss the matter with anyone, least of all Kaisei.

"I didn't get much out of Koenma beyond the usual," Yusuke continued. "He said you and your sister were as good as your mom in her heyday – and that was before you went to train with Kuwabara – and that now he thought you were about as strong as I was at the end of the Dark Tournament. So that's pretty good."

"I'm pretty sure I'm stronger than that," Kaisei muttered, his face reddening slightly. "I mean, I've seen recordings of the Dark Tournament, and I can see areas where you made a lot of mistakes in battle–"

"Botan and Keiko really only told me what you and your sister were like as people and not as fighters," Yusuke cut him off. "Which was also useful, because now I know what sort of team-mates you'll be. Koenma told me the kid was a competent fighter – and that was his exact words – but he didn't say much else. Botan and Keiko were both weirdly quiet when I asked about him, but I got a slightly different story from Shizuru."

Kurama silently wondered where Yusuke was going with what he was saying: if Botan herself had not told Yusuke who Akira really was, he doubted Shizuru would have betrayed the secret they had apparently all been sworn to keep.

"She said you were an arrogant son of a bitch, but really clever and quick-thinking," Yusuke said to Kaisei. "She said you rush into things without thinking sometimes because you overestimate your own strength, but generally you can be quite strategic if someone else pulls back on your reins."

"She's always hated me…" Kaisei grumbled.

"She said your sister also rushes in without thinking, but it's not so bad when she does it, because she's a bit stronger, a bit more fearless and a bit more fierce than you," Yusuke continued. "She said Fubuki is more open to learning something new that you are, but she's less likely to remember the lesson if she thinks she doesn't need to."

"That's fair," Kaisei said.

Hiei rolled his eyes.

"She didn't say too much about the kid either, but she did do me a useful favour to help me find out more about all three of you," Yusuke said. "She called one of my old buddies from the living world who had met the three of you and who didn't hold back with his opinions on you all."

Kaisei's face dropped again.

"Not that know-it-all Amanuma?" he asked.

Yusuke shook his head.

"Oh, so it was the guy Fubuki almost had in tears," Kaisei concluded. "Mitarai, right?"

Yusuke shook his head again and Kurama was suddenly more curious than he has expected himself to be.

"I'm talking about my old buddy Kaito," Yusuke said.

"Kaito?" Kurama echoed.

"The obnoxious, bookish one with bad skin," Hiei offered, apparently under the assumption that Kurama could not remember him. "He went to that stuffy human school you went to, did he not?"

"Yes, I do remember who Kaito is," Kurama patiently replied. "But he only briefly met Kaisei, Fubuki and Akira, and not in combat. We met him in a café on our first full day together as a team."

"He said Kaisei and Fubuki were tough, but he didn't think they'd be strong enough to go against any of Sensui's gang, even if they double-teamed each one of the seven individually," Yusuke said, ignoring the horrified look his words earned him from Kaisei. "But he said Akira was hiding something. He said the kid was treating the whole situation like a "formality" he said – like he's just making the minimum amount of effort to get by – and that if he was to really try hard, he could probably take you and your sister. At the same time."

"Kaito really said that?" Kurama asked.

"Yeah," Yusuke replied.

"Well he's an idiot," Kaisei pompously announced.

"He likes to torment people by speaking nonsense," Hiei said to anyone who was listening.

"I thought that too, at first," Yusuke said. "But then I started thinking about it a bit more, and it started to make sense."

"Yusuke, I'm sorry to interrupt, but this doesn't make any sense," Kurama said.

"No, it doesn't," Hiei added. "That kid is pathetically weak."

"No, it's not that," Kurama said, ignoring the glower Hiei gave him upon his dismissal of the emiko's declaration. "That day we met Kaito, he took me aside and told me that he thought, based on first impressions, that Fubuki was the best fighter, but that she didn't take things seriously enough."

"That's not quite right," Yusuke said.

"How do you know it's not right?" Hiei asked. "You weren't there. Were you?"

"No, he wasn't," Kaisei replied.

"Kaito told me Akira was the one he thinks doesn't take things seriously and is way stronger than Kaisei and Fubuki," Yusuke said to Kurama. "And – get this, because it is hilarious and you will laugh – he thought Akira was a teenage girl!"

Yusuke laughed and looked around the others, but none of them joined in his merriment. Kaisei still looked irritated that his own abilities had been criticised so readily, Hiei still looked disgusted that they were even discussing Akira and Kurama was suddenly wondering if what Yusuke had just revealed about Kaito's conclusions on Akira – both regarding his potential as a fighter and his gender – were perhaps true.

"When were you making all these sneaky calls to the living world?" Hiei asked Yusuke.

"Probably about the same time you were having all those sneaky meetings with Mukuro…" Yusuke muttered.

Kurama sensed that there was a bit of animosity between Yusuke and Hiei, though after what they had been through – losing half of their team, witnessing one being turned into a puppet and having to leave behind another – it was not surprising that they were tense. Puu was starting his last descent towards Genkai's temple and, once they were at their destination, Yusuke would surely gain some solace from mixing with Kuwabara and Keiko again, which would surely help him to forget any difficulties he had with Hiei.

And as he saw Botan landing on the porch with Fubuki and Akira, it occurred to Kurama that Hiei was about to stay in the safe house with a bitter teenager he had never admitted to being the father of.

Puu landed and Fubuki hurried over to meet them, punching her brother in the arm and joking with him about something. Yusuke jumped down and started towards the house, greeting Botan cheerfully as he passed her and giving a stilted greeting to Akira, who stared blankly back at him. Kurama and Hiei leapt down to the ground together and both stopped there as Puu retreated to his favoured roosting area at the back of the temple and the Sato siblings continued on towards the house. Within seconds Kurama found himself standing alone on the lawn with Hiei, facing Botan and Akira on the front porch.

And for a long, silent, tense moment, all four remained that way.

Akira was the first to react, turning as though to go inside: but Botan quickly grabbed a handful of his sleeve and turned him back around. Akira looked very worried then, but his face quickly changed to one of mild disappointment when Hiei darted off into the woods beyond the limits of the temple lawns. With Hiei gone, Kurama started towards the porch, watching carefully as Botan put an arm around Akira's shoulders.

"I don't care," he heard Akira say.

"Your father doesn't really like large gatherings of people," Botan said.

"Neither do I, but at least I know it's bad manners to run away from them," Akira moaned.

"He'll come around soon," Botan said. "And when he does, do you really want him to see you looking like you've been dragged through a bush backwards?"

"Mom…"

"Let's get you cleaned up. You don't have to wear those clothes all the time, you know. And would it kill you to run a comb through your hair at least once a day?"

"I'm not brushing my hair and changing my clothes just because Hiei decided to show up. You're not tricking me with that one. Not again."

Botan clenched her jaw and grabbed a handful of Akira's hair at the back of his head as Kurama started up the porch steps.

"Ow," Akira said sarcastically.

Botan ignored him, smiling sweetly at Kurama.

"Hello," she greeted him.

Kurama continued past her and closed the front door before turning around, finding that Botan had turned to face him, releasing Akira in the process. Akira made to go inside but Botan grabbed the back of his shirt, halting his escape.

"Don't you have something you want to say to Kurama, Akira?" Botan asked.

"No," Akira quietly replied, lowering his head.

"Well I do," Botan said, turning her attention back to Kurama. "I understand that this is probably awkward for you Kurama, but I wondered if I could ask you to just refrain from talking to anyone else about Akira's relation to Hiei."

"Yusuke appears to be unaware that Hiei is Akira's father," Kurama replied. "And I will not tell him otherwise. It's not my place to."

"Hiei's not my father," Akira muttered.

"We've been over this already, many times," Botan sternly replied. "Hiei most definitely is your father."

"Aunty Shizuru said he's just a sperm donor."

Botan's face turned deathly pale and then flushed red.

"Don't use language like that!" she snapped. "Where did you even hear language like that?"

"Aunty Shizuru," Akira repeated. "Weren't you listening to me?"

"Well you shouldn't repeat things Aunty Shizuru says to you!" Botan argued. "She just has a very negative opinion of your father."

"Because he's a lousy father."

"He's not a lousy father!"

"Yes he is. I've met him three times now, and every time he's tried to kill me."

"Those were exceptional circumstances! If your father had been around when you were growing up, I'm sure you would see that he would have been a wonderful father."

"That fact that he wasn't around is mostly what makes him such a lousy father."

"Would you stop calling your father "lousy"!"

Akira turned away from Botan and Botan turned to Kurama, who smiled awkwardly.

"If I may play mediator for just a moment, I think I can help you both reach an understanding with each other on this issue," he offered.

"Yes, thank you Kurama," Botan said, calming a little. "As Hiei's best friend, will you please tell sulky pants here that Hiei is not a lousy father?"

"I'm afraid I wasn't going to offer to take sides in your quibble," Kurama replied.

Botan's face dropped and Akira smiled.

"The problem here is that you are both approaching this from different mentalities," Kurama explained. "And not just because of your differing experiences of Hiei. Botan, you have to consider that Akira is part demon, and we demons are less forgiving than spirits, and for Akira, Hiei's absence is a sign of rejection and an inability to commit, and those are the reasons Hiei seems to be a bad father."

"Exactly," Akira said, turning to Botan.

"And Akira?"

Akira turned back to Kurama curiously.

"Your mother is a spirit, and it's in her nature to always focus on the good in any soul she encounters," Kurama explained. "Your mother is trying to focus on the fact that, because he was never around, Hiei never actually had the chance to prove whether he could be a good parent or not. She's trying to put a good spin on a bad situation, and she probably doesn't even realise what she's doing because that manner of thinking is so ingrained into her being."

Akira nodded.

"That's true," he said. "But there's something else you haven't taken into consideration: my mom's in love with Hiei, and she won't let anyone say anything bad about him."

"Akira!" Botan snapped.

"It's true," Akira insisted.

Kurama held up his hands as Botan started to look furious.

"This is clearly a very tense issue and I appreciate that," he said. "But I'm afraid now is not the right time to try to resolve it."

"Because the Dark Force might try to use Akira to get to Hiei," Botan said, putting her arm around Akira's shoulders again.

"I think that only works if he cares about me," Akira muttered. "Which he clearly doesn't…"

Botan sighed, looking genuinely weary of the matter.

"Pumpkin, you're giving Kurama the impression that you and I do nothing but argue with each other," she said, placing a hand on top of Akira's head and gently running her fingers through his lilac hair.

"We only ever argue about Hiei," Akira told Kurama.

Kurama saw a flicker of guilt pass over Botan's face before she forced a smile.

"And about someone remembering to use a hairbrush," she said, looking down at Akira again.

"Okay, I'll brush my hair," Akira conceded.

"It's supposed to be a pixie cut," Botan told Kurama as she attempted to style the front part of Akira's hair upwards.

"Because I don't look like a pixie enough already without having a hairstyle like one too," Akira said.

Botan pouted at Akira, who grinned back at her.

"And wash your face," Botan added. "You look a bit grubby and you have such a lovely skin. Just like your Aunty Yukina."

"So just like Hiei then?" Akira asked, his grin vanishing.

"No, like Aunty Yukina and the ice maidens," Botan replied.

As they stood watching each other curiously, Kurama found himself reminded of what Yusuke had spoken about on the way back to the temple. He took a moment to consider the words Botan had just used before deciding to approach the subject as tactfully as he possibly could.

"Yusuke doesn't appear to know that Hiei is your father, Akira," he said carefully, drawing Akira's attention to him. "But he does still think that you are a ten year old boy. How do you feel about that?"

Akira shrugged.

"People think I'm younger than I am all the time. It's because I'm short. Like Hiei."

Botan rolled her eyes.

"I don't think that's what he meant, Akira," she said.

"Oh you mean because Yusuke called me a boy?" Akira asked. "But everyone here does that. It's what they do, isn't it? Isn't it like a cultural thing for humans and demons? Like how they all call Mukuro "Lord" Mukuro or "Sir" even though she's a woman? Fubuki said sometimes people call her "the man" and she's really feminine, but it's just what happens to women who are physically strong, right? People refer to strong women as though they're men, right?"

"Nobody thinks you're a boy, Akira!" Botan replied. "You have such pretty bone structure in your face, it's obvious you're not a boy!"

"Pretty bone structure like a pixie?"

Botan's face dropped and Akira grinned again.

"I don't know where you got your cheekiness from," Botan grumbled.

"Maybe you shouldn't have left me with Lord Koenma all day while you were working when I was a kid," Akira replied with a shrug.

"That's probably true," Botan said, turning to Kurama.

Kurama forced a smile and nodded, but on the inside he was feeling ridiculous for not noticing before that Akira was a teenage girl – especially when even Kaito had been able to see it.

"Pumpkin, could you go inside and ask Aunty Yukina to lay out some blankets for me?" Botan said to Akira. "I'll stay here tonight, in your room."

Akira looked pleased, but only momentarily.

"Are you sending me away so that you can talk to Kurama about me behind my back?"

"You get your paranoia from your father," Botan replied.

"And my insecurity from you."

"Go and ask Aunty Yukina to lay out blankets for me!"

"Okay."

Akira begrudgingly trudged past Kurama and into the house. Once the door was closed again, Kurama turned back to Botan and found her watching him with a strange look on her face.

"Akira doesn't trust many people, but she appears to trust you," the ferry girl began. "And she appears to have started trusting you very quickly. She's very like her father – she doesn't trust people easily – so I hope you would never do anything to betray that trust."

"Of course not," Kurama replied. "I actually had a conversation with Akira about trust earlier today, and I promised then that I would never betray–"

"If the Dark Force takes control of you or consumes you, I will kill you without hesitation."

Kurama froze.

"I mean it Kurama," Botan said, despite looking and sounding unsure of her words. "If there's any chance that you could be a threat to my daughter, I will consider you an enemy."

"That is how it works," Kurama carefully replied. "Anyone who falls victim to the Dark Force will, unfortunately, become an enemy to the team."

Botan nodded.

"I have a question for you though," Kurama continued. "How is it that two of my friends had a child together fourteen years ago and I have only recently found out about it?"

"I didn't tell anyone about Akira at first," Botan replied. "Not even Hiei."

"But Kuwabara and Akira are very close and Kuwabara claims to have known Akira since… Since the day she was born."

Kurama still felt a little odd referring to Akira as a girl: so much so that he felt the need to address the matter.

"And why has Kuwabara allowed everyone to call Akira a boy all this time?" he asked.

"Lord Koenma told us not to correct any conclusions anyone jumped to about Akira's origins," Botan replied. "He said he expected you and Yusuke to assume that Akira was Kuwabara and Yukina's emiko son, and that it was better you think that than learn the truth: which has been killing me, because that girl is my pride and joy, and these past few years I've had to pretend to not even know that she exists sometimes!"

Botan clenched her fists at her side and shook her head as though trying to shake her thoughts into order.

"A-and yes," she added, her tone calmer. "Kuwabara has known Akira since she was a baby. I took her here often, mostly for my own sake, because I didn't like always leaving her with Lord Koenma and George when I had to work, and she always loved staying with Kuwabara and Yukina."

Kurama nodded slowly as another thought occurred to him.

"At some point during this, I assume you let slip to Yukina and Kuwabara that Hiei is Yukina's brother?" he asked.

The look on Botan's face was all the answer he needed.

"I see," he said softly.

"It wasn't like that, Kurama!" she quickly said. "I never intended to reveal Hiei's secret! Either of them…"

She sighed and covered her face with her large kimono sleeves before slowly sliding her hands down to peer through her parted fingers at Kurama.

"The thing is Kurama, it wasn't exactly easy telling Hiei about Akira," she said, her voice muffled against her hands.

"But you did tell him?" Kurama asked, the horrifying thought occurring to him that Hiei perhaps did not know the truth.

"I tried to many times," Botan replied, her hands still over her face. "But after Akira was actually born, it was hard to find the time to go chasing after him – he's so difficult to find as it is – and so I waited until the second Demon World Tournament, because I knew he would be there and I could talk to him then."

Botan's hands slid down to her sides.

"By then Akira was already a young child," Kurama pointed out.

Botan nodded.

"She was two," she said. "And my plan was to attend the tournament like I had attended the first tournament."

"I don't remember you being at the second Demon World Tournament," Kurama said. "I only remember you attending the first: thereafter, Koenma always arrived with only his ogre assistant at his side."

"Yes… Well… About that..."

Botan looked about herself as though she was worried that Hiei might reappear and join the conversation before stepping closer to Kurama.

"The thing is Kurama, I could never get to Hiei until the second Demon World Tournament," she said. "But on the first day that I went to the demon world for the tournament with Lord Koenma and George, the very first thing I did was seek out Hiei. I made sure I got to see him. I had to talk to him. But… He didn't react the way I thought he would – not that I knew how he would react – not that I had any idea about it – though I had thought about it a lot – but–"

Botan stopped short as the temple door opened. Kurama turned around to see Kuwabara limping out to join them. He closed the door behind him and began rubbing a hand at the back of his head in the same way Kurama had seen Akira doing earlier.

"Hey you guys, how's it going?" he asked.

"You have to stop doing this, Kuwabara!" Botan said, looking both guilty and angry.

"I was just asking how you were," Kuwabara replied, feigning innocence.

"No you weren't!" Botan said. "You're out here because Akira told you she thinks I'm talking to Kurama about her, and you came out here to spy on us for her!"

Kuwabara smiled sheepishly.

"Is that true?" Kurama asked.

"Akira's my little buddy," Kuwabara quietly replied. "We look out for each other. She was worried she was in trouble."

"She's always worried she's in trouble," Botan said. "She's paranoid and insecure, and being a teenage girl and having half of Spirit World accusing her of something she isn't responsible for makes her even more paranoid and insecure!"

"She's a good kid though, Botan," Kuwabara said.

"I know that, Kuwabara," Botan replied. "And you know I appreciate how close you are to her – which is just as well, because apart from George the ogre, you are the only adult man in her life that she can trust."

"She trusts Kurama already," Kuwabara said.

Botan gave Kurama a strange look, but said nothing.

"So what are you guys talking about?" Kuwabara asked.

"I just asked Botan how and when it was that you and Yukina learned about Hiei's relation to Yukina," Kurama offered, hoping to draw attention away from the fact that he and Botan had actually been discussing Akira.

"Oh yeah, Botan told us Hiei was Yukina's brother at the same time she told us Hiei was Akira's father," Kuwabara replied.

"I was just getting to that…" Botan muttered.

"Well I can tell the rest of it if it's too difficult for you, Botan," Kuwabara offered. "Me and Yukina were babysitting Akira while Botan went to the second Demon World Tournament, but Botan came back after one day because when she went to go tell Hiei about Akira, Hiei basically told her he didn't care. Botan got really upset, Urameshi found her crying and then he encouraged her to go get drunk with him, and she flew back here drunk and she told me and Yukina everything."

"I was drunk," Botan added.

"Yukina was really upset that Hiei had never told her before that he was her brother and I was really mad that he wouldn't come see Akira," Kuwabara continued. "The next day, after Botan stopped spewing up her guts all over the place–"

"Nobody needed to know that part," Botan interrupted.

"She called Koenma and he said she didn't have to go back to watch the tournament, but she didn't have to go back to Spirit World either, so we – you know, me, Yukina, Botan and Akira – all took a little summer holiday in Sapporo."

"Akira likes the beach."

"And then we did that every time there was a Demon World Tournament."

"Yes. Every time there was a Demon World Tournament, the four of us – and sometimes Shizuru and Keiko and Kuwabara's father too – all went to Sapporo for two weeks."

"And after two weeks we all came home. Except Botan and Akira."

"Akira and I stayed there for the duration of every tournament. It was nice. After the Dark Age, we're going to live there."

Kurama nodded.

"Okay," he said. "There's just one thing I don't understand: Akira made a very good point – why hasn't Hiei ever mentioned her to Yusuke or me before now?"

Botan opened her mouth to answer, but Kuwabara beat her to it.

"Because Hiei's the sort of guy who doesn't care about family," he said coldly. "Look at how he never told Yukina who he was all that time. He kept telling her that her brother was probably dead and it broke her heart. He messed his sister around for years and now he's messing around his own daughter with the same mean tricks."

"It seems odd that Hiei allowed Akira to be raised in Spirit World," Kurama pointed out. "Tonight he mentioned that she should have been raised in Demon World."

"Oh yeah?" Kuwabara scoffed. "By who? Because he sure wasn't gonna raise her there, was he? Not after he wouldn't even come and see her after Botan told him about her."

Kurama still thought it odd that Hiei had never mentioned Akira or else acknowledged who she was when she had been introduced to Kurama and Yusuke as one of the living world defenders: however, it was not so difficult to believe that Hiei would distance himself from his child, especially after the way he had always distanced himself from his sister. Kurama could almost hear Hiei's voice saying something along the lines of "it was better this way, better that she never know me".

Kuwabara suggested they go inside, and, after once more accusing him of spying on behalf of Akira, Botan agreed and followed him indoors. After one last look over his shoulder for any trace of Hiei returning, Kurama followed them in too and closed the door.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** Fubuki tries (and fails) to befriend Hiei, Yusuke decides it might be fun to wind up Akira (but sorely misjudges his choice of subject material), Koenma arrives to deliver some startling news from Spirit World and Yusuke unintentionally unleashes a monster. **Chapter 25 – Messenger**


	25. Messenger

**Chapter 25 – Messenger**

Hiei begrudgingly opened one eye and peered down from his resting place on the branch of a tree. He had been sleeping and enjoying the rest and solitude, but he was not entirely surprised that someone had come to cut it short for him. The sun was barely up and twinkling through the trees, the air still cold and damp with morning dew, and the woman standing at the base of the tree looking up at him was unreasonably chirpy for such a time of day.

"Hey mister dark horse, I thought you might like some breakfast."

Hiei closed his eye again. Maybe if he pretended to still be asleep, it would go away.

"Don't worry, it wasn't me that made it," the woman prattled on regardless. "It was Mrs Minamino. You like her cooking, don't you? Kurama said you do."

Hiei tried to stay as still as he possibly could. Even on a good day he struggled to cope with overly chipper females getting in his face and, as it was, he was in an increasingly bad mood that morning, so he was really not prepared to humour her attempts at small talk.

"I even went to the trouble of taking out three choices for you," she continued, apparently blind as well as stupid. "Because you're a fussy eater. Is that because you're a demon, unaccustomed to human food, or is fussy eating just a thing specific to little fire demons?"

Hiei opened both his eyes and turned his head to look down at the pair of pink eyes looking up at him. She smiled and raised a tray of food up as though she thought he could somehow reach it from thirty feet in the air.

"Soup, eggs or pastries?"

"Stabbing, burning or asphyxiation?"

Fubuki lowered the tray slightly and tilted her head to one side.

"Which way would you like to die?" Hiei added.

"Oh," she said, looking not in the least concerned. "Right, whatever. You should pick something quick, it's getting cold."

"Leave me alone," Hiei flatly replied.

"The pastries are really nice," Fubuki said, apparently as persistent as she was pesky. "You can keep them in your pocket and eat them later if you're not hungry right now: they taste just as good cold as they do warm."

"I don't eat anything glazed or that is comprised primarily of air."

"Okay, what about the soup? It smells lovely. And it's all liquid, no air in there!"

"Liquids aren't foods. They are drinks. I don't drink food."

"Okay… So it's the eggs then."

"That all depends on how the eggs have been prepared."

"Oh, so you might actually eat this dish?"

Hiei moved himself around to sit on the branch with his legs dangling down and he leaned forwards to glare down at Fubuki.

"It's a sort of medley of eggs and vegetables," she said, oblivious to his ire at her previous, obviously sarcastic, remark.

"I don't like vegetables," Hiei growled.

"Surely you don't hate all vegetables?" Fubuki asked.

"Try me."

Hiei had given his answer as snidely as he possibly could and he was sure that his tone and choice of words ought to have been enough to end the conversation: but the girl was apparently insane, as she took his response literally.

"Okay we have onions," she said. "Do you like onions?"

Hiei did like onions, but he was not about to admit that to her.

"And it looks like we have something green in there… It could be spinach, or maybe seaweed…"

"I don't eat weeds. I don't eat most things that are green. Green is the colour of rotten food."

"It's also the colour of fresh food, like spinach and seaweed and–"

"I don't like it."

Fubuki looked defeated. Hiei grinned.

"I think there's some leftover salad and cold cuts in the fridge."

Hiei's grin vanished. She was relentless.

"It's all light and easy stuff," she continued, sounding enthusiastic again. "There's cold ham–"

"I don't eat cold meat."

"Lettuce–"

"That's made of water. Water is something you drink, not something you eat. Didn't I already explain to you my policy on drinkable food?"

"Right… There's loads of cucumber-"

"I don't like that stuff. It tastes like perfume."

Hiei actually felt some of the tension ease in his squared shoulders when Fubuki fell silent and any hints of merriment vanished from her face. She stayed that way for a long time, her head tilted back looking up at him, her expression neutralised, her irritatingly complex hairstyle pressing against her shoulders (Hiei had seen demon woman do some strange things with their hair, but this woman had somehow managed to style hers into large loops on either side of her head, with a long section hanging down her back) and her upturned hands still holding the tray of food quite high, indicating that she had perhaps not quite given up her quest just yet.

"What did you just say?" she said after a prolonged silence.

"I said shut up and leave me alone," Hiei replied.

"No, before that," she said, apparently not even realising her own mistake. "Did you say cucumbers taste like perfume?"

"Yes," Hiei confirmed. "What of it?"

"Well… It's just that…"

Fubuki looked back over one shoulder as though she thought someone might be standing there.

"How would you even know what perfume tastes like?" she asked as she turned back to him.

"Have you ever kissed a woman wearing perfume before?" Hiei asked.

"Not really," Fubuki replied.

"It's the same taste. Like Cucumber."

"Right… Okay… Wow."

Fubuki looked down at the tray in her hands and sighed. She then muttered something that she probably thought Hiei would not be able to hear from high up in the tree, but his heightened sense of hearing picked up her words with ease and they left him quietly snarling through bared teeth. She shrugged and turned and walked away, but her words lingered in Hiei's mind: he absolutely was not "worse than Akira". Just hearing that kid's name left him irate. The kid made him angry for more reasons than he could ever admit to, but, he thought, if Fubuki was dishing out breakfast, that surely meant the residents of the safe house were awake for the day, which probably also meant that the kid was awake.

Hiei hopped down out of the tree and started back towards the safe house, only stopping when he realised that if he moved too quickly he would catch up to Fubuki and have to deal with her again and that apparently Kurama was heading into the trees somewhere to his left. His curiosity peaked, he turned and started towards his old friend: but when he reached him, he found him in quite an odd predicament.

"What are you doing?" Hiei asked.

Kurama slowly retracted his hands from Akira's neck, revealing that he had just removed the Spirit World issue collar the boy had been wearing.

"We're training," Kurama replied, turning to Hiei, unashamedly holding the collar in his hands.

"Does Koenma know you're doing that?" Hiei asked him.

"No," Kurama replied. "Are you going to tell him?"

"No."

Kurama nodded.

"You should probably report back to the safe house," he suggested. "Yusuke was looking for you."

Hiei looked over at Akira, who was already glaring at him. He had not forgotten what had happened the night before, and, judging by the way the brat was glowering back at him, neither had he.

"We'll join you later," Kurama said.

Hiei moved his eyes back to Kurama.

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" Hiei asked.

"Do you want to join Akira and I for a sparring session?" Kurama responded.

Hiei could think of nothing worse and he was sure Kurama knew as much before he asked the question, because it was just like him to use such manipulative tactics. He gave Akira one last glare before nodding at Kurama and turning back towards the house. As he left, he was sure that Kurama and Akira were still standing where he had left them, staring after him, but he refused to give them the satisfaction of turning around to check. He marched on, silently hoping that a night with Keiko had snapped Yusuke out of the edgy, accusatory mood he had been in of late, and that everyone else in the house stayed well away from him.

Hiei stopped short at the end of the temple lawn as something dropped to the ground in front of him.

"Here, this is something you do like."

Hiei paused for a moment, keeping his eyes on the pink eyes watching him with an indescribable look, before slowly lowering his eyes to the tray of food he was being offered. There was a bowl of rose tea and a plate of fried seafood decorated with a sticky sauce.

"I'm not hungry," he lied.

"Take the food Hiei," Botan replied, pushing the tray against his chest. "We need to talk. Now."

Hiei made no attempt to take the tray from her.

"Bribing me with food won't change my mind," he warned her.

"I'm not here to talk to you about us," she replied, looking and sounding a little bitter. "Not this time, anyway. I need to talk to you about something Yukina told me."

"Hn, don't you mean something you told Yukina?" Hiei sneered.

"No, I mean something she told me," Botan calmly replied. "She was–"

"I know you told her she is my sister, Botan."

Botan faltered slightly then and Hiei rolled his eyes.

"You thought I didn't know?" he asked.

"I'm not surprised that you know," she carefully replied. "But, in the grand scheme of things, who told who what is irrelevant–"

"Not to me it's not!"

"Okay, I'm sorry I told her, Hiei."

"She barely even speaks to me any more!"

"Yes, well, that's probably because–"

Hiei snatched the tray of food from Botan, the shock of his abrupt action silencing her.

"Shouldn't you be getting back to Spirit World?" he asked her.

"Yes, I should, but before I go, I just wanted to tell you that–"

"Don't."

The ferry girl blinked and her eyebrows twisted upwards in an expression of worried confusion that looked oddly familiar to Hiei's eyes.

"Don't say it," he said quietly, looking down at the food she had brought him to avoid having to see how her face might change again. "Just… Just don't say it. You've said it before, and I've told you before that there's no place for it in my life. That hasn't changed. I still can't do it. I thought I'd made that clear to you. You need to stop asking me about it."

"Hiei, I accept that now, but this is something much bigger and something you can't ignore."

Hiei looked up at Botan again and found that she was still wearing that worried look of concern. For a fleeting moment he thought the expression was the sort of expression that miserable kid Akira often wore: though neither Botan nor Akira had any reason to look so miserable about anything.

"I know what you're going to say next," he said.

"Did you use your Jagan?" she asked.

"I don't need to," he replied. "You're going to try to tell me that I should be a part of this messed up little "family" that has emerged: but I have even less interest in that than do in pretending that I'm capable of feeling something that I'm not. Do you understand?"

Botan looked like she might cry, but she was making a grand attempt to hold back the extremities of her emotions.

"It's not so much for me, or for you, Hiei," she said carefully. "Or even Yukina. It's for Akira–"

"I knew you'd say that, too."

"And-and you still don't want to–"

"No."

Botan nodded stiffly and took a step back, leaving Hiei with the tray of food. He made to sit down and start eating before his meal turned too cold to be palatable, but as soon as he had reached the ground, he was painfully aware that Botan's shadow was still lingering over him. He looked up at her expectantly, though he was starting to lose what little patience he had.

"I just want to be sure that we're talking about the same thing," she began. "I'm talking about your relationship to Akira–"

"Yes and I told you I won't discuss that with you," Hiei sharply replied.

She opened her mouth as though she intended to press the matter further despite him having repeatedly told her to stop.

"This conversation is over," he told her.

She gave him a strange look but she did, finally, turn from him and take her leave. As she walked back towards the temple Hiei gladly started on his breakfast. At first, as he ravenously devoured the meal, he thought it slightly disturbing that Botan had remembered – after so many years – that he liked rose tea with honey.

And then, just as he was shovelling the last of the sticky seafood into his mouth, he wondered when it was that she had ever figured out that he liked to eat fried seafood with a sticky, fruity sauce: because it was a dish that he had rarely eaten in his life, and certainly never in her presence.

* * *

"What the hell even is that? Is that shrimp and calamari with yellow plum sauce? What kind of weirdo would even eat this crap?"

"It's not for you, Yusuke."

Yusuke turned to Keiko, his face still contorted in disgust.

"But it's the only hot food left in the kitchen!" he protested.

He looked about the room, seeing nothing but empty plates and dirty pots and pans, but no trace of edible food beyond the casserole dish of fried seafood smothered in sticky sauce in front of him.

"Didn't you already have breakfast?" Keiko asked, folding her arms and giving him a critical look.

"Yeah, but before that, I hadn't had breakfast for weeks!" he replied, peering around the kitchen. "And Kurama's mom is a really good cook…"

"I'm glad you think so Yusuke, though do bear in mind my mother isn't here just to cook for you."

Yusuke spun around as Kurama moved into the middle of the kitchen.

"Who ate all those pastries that were here?" Yusuke asked him.

Yusuke suspected it had been Kuwabara, but before he could say as much, he noticed Akira edging into the room and sniffing at the air like a stray dog.

"Was it you?" he asked, pointing at Akira.

Akira stopped short, his eyes growing large in what looked like an expression of guilt.

"Did you eat all the pastries?" Yusuke asked him.

"No," Akira replied, blushing slightly.

Yusuke narrowed his eyes sceptically.

"I didn't, I'm not lying," Akira insisted. "I don't lie. And I don't eat pastries. I don't eat anything glazed or that is comprised primarily of air."

Yusuke straightened up. He had forgotten how odd the kid could be.

"Something smells really nice in here though," Akira added.

"It's me, I changed my cologne," Yusuke replied.

Akira gave him the sort of look Hiei usually gave him when he made a joke specific to human culture and thus slightly alien to him.

"It's probably the sweet and sticky seafood medley," Keiko said to Akira.

"Sweet and sticky seafood medley?" Akira echoed.

"Yeah someone fried up a bunch of random seafood and then dumped a load of sweet dipping sauce over it," Yusuke said, pointing at the culinary disaster on the kitchen counter.

"That's my favourite!"

Yusuke recoiled as Akira darted across the room towards the sickly smelling stew, and he took two steps back when the kid actually scooped some up with a serving spoon and ate it.

"That kid is so weird…" Yusuke grumbled.

He turned to Kurama, who was smiling at him in an almost amused manner.

"I'm just saying, I don't know anyone who eats crap like that," Yusuke explained. "Even demons in Demon World don't eat weird messes like that."

Keiko muttered something that Yusuke could not quite make out, but he assumed it was probably another of her unfunny jokes about his high standards for food preparation. She liked to sometimes make the joke that he was a closet gourmet chef who compared every dish to his own skill level and impossibly high standards: Yusuke was not opposed to laughing at his own expense, but he had never found that particular joke funny, so he ignored her.

"I think we should talk," he said to Kurama. "You know, all the fighters, together. We need to share more information on what's been going on here and what it was like in Demon World, so that everybody understands what they're up against."

"That's an excellent idea," Kurama replied. "I believe Fubuki managed to locate Hiei, I'll go and check on that, and if you could round up everyone else, we'll meet out in the summerhouse."

"…What the hell is a summerhouse?"

Keiko sighed and Kurama gave Yusuke a small frown.

"The gazebo," Kurama said.

"What the hell is a gazebo?" Yusuke asked.

"The small pagoda beyond the ponds."

"…Are you just making up words now?"

"He means the little wooden hut with the pointy roof over beside the barn Puu sleeps in."

Yusuke turned to Akira, who was, oddly enough, the only person in the room not looking at him as though he was stupid.

"Why didn't you just say that in the first place?" he asked Kurama.

"Probably because most people would know what a summerhouse is…" Keiko muttered.

Yusuke made to argue with her, but she started to leave the room. He watched her go, feeling suddenly a little offended then: she had been a little distant since he had returned from Demon World, and he had expected her to be relieved to see him alive. Her general disinterest had reminded him rather starkly of what the Dark Force had said – through Jin – about how she had been emotionally hurt by his comings and goings over the years, and he suddenly found himself feeling hints of that same trembling anger he had before.

"Don't take that too personally, Yusuke," Kurama advised him, seemingly picking up on Yusuke's tension with his usual, unsettlingly accurate perceptiveness. "I think she's just a little on edge because she's worried about her family and she has been butting heads with Kaisei quite a lot, which really isn't helping her any."

"Right, I guess that makes sense," Yusuke said, nodding his head. "I'm not exactly happy about my mom roaming the streets if half of Demon World are gonna end up here too."

"I'll get Hiei and Fubuki," Kurama said.

"Right."

Kurama left the room, leaving Yusuke alone with Akira, who was still eating the crunchy, crispy, sticky, disgusting mess at the other end of the room.

"Hey, do you know where Kuwabara and Kaisei are?" Yusuke asked him.

"Well, Fubuki is on watch duty, so I guess Kaisei is probably in his room reading another dumb book about aliens or the government," Akira replied.

"And Kuwabara's probably wherever Yukina is," Yusuke concluded.

"Maybe," Akira said with a shrug.

Yusuke watched him shovel another enormous spoonful of food into his mouth before voicing the thought that had just occurred to him that suddenly seemed to him to be the best way to wind the kid up.

"Or maybe Kuwabara went to go see Botan to get his leg healed," he said.

Akira nodded as he began the onerous task of chewing through the food crammed into his mouth.

"You don't think that's kinda funny?" Yusuke asked.

Akira frowned and then slowly shook his head. He looked like he wanted to say something, but his mouth was still too full of food to speak.

"I thought it was pretty funny because of the history between your dad and Botan."

Akira dropped the metal serving spoon to the floor with a clatter and stopped chewing. Yusuke contained a gleeful smirk as he continued to reel in his latest victim: maybe Hiei was no longer susceptible to his jokes, but Akira was brand new and could not even see it coming.

"You didn't know?" he asked. "Aw man, you're dad had it so bad for Botan when he first met her."

Akira slowly turned to fully face Yusuke, his cheeks bulging but his face still clearly contorted in a blend of concern and horror.

"I guess nobody told you about it because it was so long ago," Yusuke continued. "But trust me, when he first met Botan, your dad was crazy about her."

Yusuke was unsure if he was amused, disgusted or horrified when Akira somehow managed to swallow the entire, bulky contents of his mouth in one gulp.

"Oh, and for the record, I'm talking about your real dad," Yusuke quickly added, as he remembered again how Hiei had accused him of being Akira's father. "You know, your real, actual, biological father."

"I understand," Akira quietly replied.

"Okay, good," Yusuke said, relaxing again. "So yeah, when he first met Botan, he was all over her."

"I don't believe you," Akira said, his voice still quiet.

"Ask anyone else, they'll back me up," Yusuke insisted. "Though to be fair, that was only when your dad first met Botan. He went off her pretty damn quickly when he met his "one true love", but before that, he was all about Botan."

"His "one true love"?"

"Yeah, you know who I'm talking about. That special demon lady in his life."

Akira looked far more irritated than Yusuke had expected him to; tormenting the kid was not only easier than he had expected it to be, but he had also managed to achieve far better results than he had expected to in such a short space of time.

"Did you ever hear about the time the team went to Maze Castle?" Yusuke asked.

Akira glared at him with a look that would not have looked amiss on Hiei's face.

"I'm aware of that story," he growled.

"Well during that whole mission, your dad just went on and on about Botan," Yusuke continued. "He was trying to take my communication mirror from me the whole time just so he could see her face. At the start of the mission, he wasn't even supposed to be there, but he agreed to join in because, well, basically, he wanted to impress Botan. To be fair, Botan was wearing a pretty tight outfit that day. She had on these really tight pants and she was filling them out in all the right places, if you know what I mean."

When Yusuke saw the odd look Akira was giving him, he remembered that he was talking to a little kid: though he was sure that he would have understood the reference at that age, apparently Akira was quite naïve.

"Well we should go catch up with the others," he said, deciding that he could torment the kid more later. "You get Kaisei, I'll get your dad."

"Don't bother, he doesn't contribute anything anyway."

Yusuke paused, watching Akira stomp past him. Apparently he had touched on a very raw nerve with his last joke, but he was surprised to find that Kuwabara's son was going through a phase of hating him: most kids did go through such a phase, but Yusuke had always imagined that any child of Yukina and Kuwabara would never go through such a phase. He hoped Kuwabara would not be too mad at him if he had just inadvertently caused any animosity between the father and son, and he wondered if he ought to warn Kuwabara about it.

But, when he encountered Kuwabara limping through the corridors, Yusuke resorted to joking with his friend about his injury, and he shortly forgot all about Akira's over-reaction to his joke.

* * *

"This is pointless."

"Wow, you're a real ray of sunshine, little man."

Kurama turned sharply to Fubuki and shook his head, but apparently her insolence vastly out-weighed her sense of critical judgement, as she merely winked at him and then went back to teasing an already clearly highly agitated Hiei.

"You know, if Demon World really has fallen, the other two worlds could be next," she said. "And do you really want to spend what's left of your life being miserable?"

"Shut her up, fox," Hiei warned Kurama. "Or I will."

Kurama turned to warn Fubuki to stop, but found her barely holding back laughter.

"Things were very difficult for the team in Demon World," he quietly reminded her. "Be mindful of that."

"Yes Sir," she said.

Kurama started to tell her that he was not joking, but by that time he had reached the steps into the summerhouse, and he became distracted when he noticed Akira standing in the back corner of the room, her arms folded and her shoulders squared, her eyes fixed in an unblinking glare on Hiei. A glance at Hiei showed Kurama that he was in as poor a mood, and, sensing that what was meant to be a constructive conversation could turn into a small disaster, Kurama quickly crossed the room to stand beside Akira.

"Take a deep breath," he whispered to her.

She shifted her glare to him, but, as she met his eyes, he saw her expression soften slightly.

"Take a deep breath," he said again.

She did as he asked and he waited a few seconds before telling her to exhale.

"Try to redirect your anger," he suggested.

"I'm not angry," Akira tightly replied.

"Don't lie to me."

Akira's face changed instantly. Kurama thought that it was maybe a little cruel to play up to her weaknesses, but as she did seem to be motivated by honesty and she had just been dishonest, it seemed like an effective and efficient way to dissipate her ire.

"I don't think angry is the right word to describe it," she qualified. "That was all I meant."

"Okay."

Kurama was sure that Akira had not forgotten her anger towards Hiei, but she seemed to be more humbled than angry in that moment. He looked over at Hiei and saw that he still looked irritated and displeased, but unfortunately he could not be as easily appeased as Akira could. It seemed that Akira had her father's tendency for bouts of excessive anger, but she had her mother's willingness to listen to and consider reason, even when she was at the peak of her emotions: which, ironically, would make her less susceptible to being driven to madness by the Dark Force than Hiei, who, at the height of his anger, was deaf and blind to any logical counter-argument.

"Why's everybody looking at me?" Yusuke asked, looking around the room.

"Aren't you usually the team leader?" Kaisei responded.

"I thought I was the team leader of the Demon World team," Yusuke replied. "Am I the leader of this team now too?"

"Idiot, there is no longer a Demon World team," Hiei pointed out. "This might as well be the Demon World team."

Yusuke nodded, looking around the room again.

"Okay, then I guess that means I have to talk first," he concluded. "Well, I think by now you all know that things didn't go so well in Demon World. I don't know what any of you think the Dark Force really is, but trust me, he's the biggest bastard you've never met. He's sneaky, he's evil, he's controlling, he's sick and he works fast. He took down most of our team in no time. Four of our team are dead, one is being controlled by the Dark Force and the other one is still back in Demon World fighting. I don't know if he'll make it out, but if he can, he'll come here and join us."

"That's a ridiculously optimistic outlook on the situation," Hiei said. "Shall I tell everyone the truth now?"

Yusuke gave him a hard look, but Hiei – wound up by his own anger once again – merely took the gesture as cue to go on as he had threatened to.

"We were a team of eight S-class demons," he said. "Every one of us was stronger, faster and had more experience than all of you combined. Despite that, four of our team died in a very short space of time, and the remainder of the team ran around in a panic, arguing between ourselves. The enemy was at its weakest when we encountered it, and that was what it did to us. It will cut through all of you without hesitation."

"Thanks for the motivational speech, Hiei," Yusuke said sarcastically.

"I have a question," Kaisei said, raising his hand.

"The answer is you are too weak," Hiei replied. "The best thing you could do would be to stay out of our way as we fight this."

"Go ahead and ask the question, Kaisei," Kurama said. "We'll do our best to answer it."

Hiei grunted and glowered at Kurama, but everyone else ignored him.

"We've all been told plenty of horror stories about what this old ghost can do, but the one thing nobody ever talks about is how we stop it," Kaisei said. "We're fighting it, sure, but all we seem to be doing is killing its victims: how do we actually make it stop?"

"That's a very good question and one that I'm a little disappointed has not been addressed to you all before now," Kurama said. "Kuwabara, why haven't you shared this information with your team?"

Kuwabara looked alarmed and his reaction made Kurama start to lose a little hope.

"Nobody told me!" he said defensively.

"Nobody told me either, come to think of it…" Yusuke muttered.

"We banish it back into its prison," Hiei said.

"Okay, but how?" Kaisei asked.

When Hiei's face twisted slightly and nobody else offered an answer, Fubuki sighed.

"Wow, so none of know how to stop this thing?" she asked. "Can't we just kill it?"

"It's immortal," Akira said. "It can't be killed. That's why it was imprisoned in the first place. They couldn't kill it, so they did the next best thing they could possibly manage: they separated its soul from its body and locked it into its prison."

"That's an over-simplification," Hiei grumbled.

Akira tensed but Kurama quickly spoke up to prevent any arguments from breaking out.

"Actually, that's quite an accurate – and succinct – summary of the problem," he said.

Hiei sneered at him and Akira blushed slightly, looking down at her feet.

"The Dark Force is one of the ancients of Demon World – they all still live in one form or another – and it is so powerful that even the binds that contain it are not enough to completely overcome it, hence why there is a Dark Age cyclically every 650 years," Kurama explained. "There is a legend in Demon World and Spirit World that it can be killed, but I suspect that stems from the fact that killing those controlled or consumed by it weaken it. Theoretically, if we could kill every one of its victims right now, it would have no mortal form and be substantially weakened, but the problem would still remain that it was free and could take control of anyone else again at any time."

"So sending it back to its prison is the only option?" Kaisei asked.

"Basically yes," Kurama replied.

"Does anyone know how to do that?" Yusuke asked.

The others all looked around each other briefly before all turning to Kurama.

"You're the only one here old enough to have been alive the last time it happened," Kuwabara pointed out when Kurama looked around them all nervously.

"Yes, that's true, but unfortunately I don't know how to return it to its prison," Kurama reluctantly admitted. "Koenma knows how to contain it, and I assumed he would have – at the very least – briefed Yusuke's team on the procedure."

"You say that like you think Koenma ever tells me useful information ahead of a disaster," Yusuke said sarcastically. "Like the rugrat remembers to pass on important information to us as soon as possible, instead of waiting until it's probably already too late for the information to be useful any more."

"Your faith in me is flattering, Yusuke."

Yusuke turned and grimaced as Koenma entered the summerhouse, in his adult form and looking remarkably calm.

"You were watching me from Spirit World and just waiting for the second I said something bad, weren't you?" Yusuke snapped at him.

"Yusuke, I'm very busy, I don't have time to sit around watching your antics all day," Koenma replied.

Kurama, Kuwabara and Hiei all muttered contradictory remarks and Koenma glowered at them.

"I've come here to deliver some great news, and this is the welcome I get?" he asked.

"Given our current circumstances, is it really appropriate to describe any news you have as "great"?" Kaisei asked.

"Maybe he came here to tell us the Dark Age is all over already," Fubuki suggested.

"You really are a pathetically, hopelessly excessive optimist," Hiei growled at her.

"Better to be an optimist than a mean, bitter cynic," Akira retorted.

"Isn't it past your bedtime?" Hiei spat back.

Kurama made to intervene, but he was saved the bother when Fubuki stepped forwards.

"Hey, leave Akira outta this, little man," she said to Hiei. "And besides, it's not even lunchtime, your quip wasn't nearly as clever as you thought it was."

Hiei took a step towards her but Koenma stepped into his path, grinning at him nervously from behind his pacifier.

"How about you let me say what I have to say first?" he said. "I think it might be enough to put a smile on even your face, Hiei."

"I doubt that…" Fubuki muttered.

"The good news is that, for now, it appears that we have managed to contain the Dark Force within Demon World," Koenma quickly announced. "Ordinarily, at this stage, with Demon World falling, we would be seeing evidence of the enemy making a play for Spirit World: but that's not the case."

"Then explain why Tokyo was almost turned into a dustbowl last night?" Yusuke asked.

"Until we can return order to Demon World, there will continue to be a problem with demons accessing the human world," Koenma replied. "And so until that time, I need you all to remain here and remain on high alert."

"So who's gonna lock the Dark Force back into its prison?" Kaisei asked.

"The SDF will take care of that."

There was a long, uncomfortable silence, eventually broken by Kaisei.

"I don't have a lot of faith in the SDF," he said.

"That's King Enma's personal elite forces you're referring to," Koenma reminded him.

"I don't know how elite they are," Fubuki said. "They didn't seem so "elite" when they came here a for a training session with us."

"They weren't exactly showing any signs of bravery or tactical intelligence," Kaisei added.

Koenma sighed slowly.

"Not you two as well…" he muttered under his breath.

"I don't believe you've done your research properly," Hiei said.

Koenma brightened slightly, apparently glad to take the insult if only to distract from the subject of everyone criticising the SDF.

"It appears the Dark Force has come up against some powerful resistance in Demon World," he said. "Officially, Demon World has fallen, but there are two or three enclaves of resistance holding out against the enemy, and, for now, it looks like they might actually be strong enough to push it back. Unless we see any suggestion of trouble in Spirit World, I believe those left in Demon World will be able to deal with the enemy."

"So, that's it?" Yusuke asked.

"You expect us all to remain here knowing that Demon World is still under attack?" Hiei asked.

"Do we even still need the safe house?" Kaisei asked. "Because getting my mom to come here wasn't easy."

"If the Dark Force is heading for Spirit World, shouldn't at least some of us go there to head it off?" Fubuki asked.

"You kids sure ask a lot of questions…" Yusuke commented.

"For now, the best thing you can all do is stay here to stop any stray demons that come to this world," Koenma replied.

"That seems a little anti-climactic," Kaisei said.

"Would you like the apocalypse to come to this world just to be able to say you saw it with your own eyes?" Koenma asked him sarcastically.

"That's not what my brother meant, Koenma," Fubuki said. "He just meant that, after all the years of preparing for this, we'll all feel pretty useless sitting around here waiting for the odd demon to pop up in the living world."

"Especially after so many guys died in Demon World fighting this thing," Kuwabara added.

"Well just be thankful," Koenma told them. "This is actually a good thing, but by the way you're all reacting, I feel like I just delivered bad news!"

Yusuke sighed and shrugged.

"Fine, we'll stay here," he said.

"Good," Koenma said. "And with any luck, it will all be over soon."

"For a week," Hiei said.

"What?" Koenma echoed.

"We'll stay here for a week," Yusuke said.

"After that, we return to Demon World," Hiei added.

"Half of us will go to Demon World to aid the battle there," Kurama suggested. "The other half will go to Spirit World to confirm that things are as under control as you have promised us, Koenma."

"You say that like you don't trust me!" Koenma complained.

"Sometimes you lie about things to make them sound better than they really are," Akira said.

Koenma gave her a harsh look, but he quickly turned to Yusuke when he noticed that the mazoku was nodding.

"Even the kid knows you're not the most reliable messenger of accurate information, Koenma," Yusuke said.

"Please just remain here," Koenma insisted. "I don't want the living world vulnerable to attack. If the situation is unchanged after one week, I will return, and we can discuss our plans then."

"That's fair," Kurama agreed.

The others all grumbled begrudging agreements and Koenma started to leave, beckoning Kuwabara to join him. Kurama was vaguely curious as to what the prince had to say to Kuwabara that he could not say in the presence of anyone else, but he quickly gave up trying to guess when Yusuke asked if anyone wanted to spar with him to help alleviate his boredom and one member of the group eagerly stepped forward.

"You?" Yusuke asked, screwing up his face as he regarded Akira. "Really?"

"Yes," Akira insisted.

"Is this because you're still mad about what I said about your dad and Botan?" Yusuke asked.

"What?" Kurama grunted.

"Take the collar off."

Kurama looked down at Akira, who was suddenly looking up at him with a look of determination he was slightly hesitant to argue with.

"He's a demon, right?" Akira said. "So that means I'm allowed to use my demon energy to fight him. Take the collar off – but don't let Koenma see you do it."

"What did Yusuke say to you about your mother and father?" Kurama asked her.

"Nothing I can't forget after I punch him in the face."

"What?"

"Mister Urameshi, can we fight someplace else?"

Yusuke shrugged.

"I guess so," he said. "You got anywhere in mind?"

"The old house in the woods we were using as a training dojo," Akira replied. "The place where you and I met recently."

"You mean at the start of this mission when you tried to ambush me and failed?" Yusuke asked with an amused smirk. "Sure kid, let's go."

Akira turned to face Kurama.

"Come with us," she said. "As soon as we are out of sight of Koenma, take the collar off. Then leave us be."

Kurama looked over at the doorway of the summerhouse, beyond which he could see Yusuke standing petting Puu.

"Yusuke won't go easy on you," he said, looking down at Akira again.

"Did you go easy on me?" she asked.

"No, but Yusuke's fighting style is a little rougher than mine," Kurama warned. "He's much more of a brawler and he never hesitates."

"Thanks for the appraisal," Akira replied, much to Kurama's dismay. "Now I know which approach will be best for my offence."

Kurama had hoped to discourage her as she still seemed a little edgy – Hiei's presence had certainly brought out a more aggressive side of her – and it was unlikely that Yusuke would cut her any slack, even if it was just a friendly sparring session. She was taking it far too seriously and he could not understand why: it was almost as though she was somehow blaming Yusuke for the anger and resentment she felt towards Hiei.

"Alright then," he conceded. "But perhaps I should stay while you–"

"You're starting to sound like Uncle Kazuma," she cut him off. "Thank you for your consideration, but it's unnecessary."

Kurama started to tell Akira that Yusuke was actually an easy-going, laid-back person who had no understanding of who she really was or of her relation to and with Hiei: but she turned from him and started to leave, her gloved fists clenched at her sides. She was so blinded by her own obstinacy, Kurama decided that the only way she would learn would be to let her go ahead and do as she wanted to: that was always how it was with Hiei.

* * *

Yusuke looked back over his shoulder, brightening a little as the weird kid finally started catching up to him. He had fallen behind at the start of the journey out to the old house, but he was rapidly catching up again – so much so, in fact, that Yusuke started to run faster. He ran all the way to the old house, stopping when he reached the clearing just outside of it. He was not sure if the kid would want to fight inside or outside, but either way, he hoped Akira would fight the way he had against Hiei the night before rather than the boring way he had the first time they had met.

Yusuke froze.

There was something in the forest.

He wanted to look but he could not make himself move.

He could feel something he had only felt once before in his life. But there was no possible way it was correct. He had to be wrong.

He really hoped that he was wrong.

When he finally found the wherewithal to focus on the area around him, but he felt no more at ease when he realised that he could no longer sense any trace of Akira. It was not like the kid had ever given off a significant aura, but there was literally no trace of him whatsoever, despite the fact that he had, until only seconds earlier, been right behind Yusuke.

As the sickening feeling of being watched by what was suddenly in the forest with him became overpowering, Yusuke finally managed to make himself turn around.

"What the hell are you?" he muttered as his eyes landed on the creature standing less than twenty feet away from him at the edge of the treeline.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** The team find yet another cryptic message from the Dark Force, Yusuke and Akira talk about her hidden power, Yusuke and Hiei debate Akira's usefulness as an ally and Botan makes a saddening and frightening discovery in Spirit World. **Chapter 26 – Monster**

**A/N:** The next chapter is a really talky one (and so was this one, I suppose). The next few chapters are a bit dialogue-driven, and that one week grace is really only in there to let me build some relationships, expand on some characters, fill in some back stories and set up some future drama.


	26. Monster

**Chapter 26 – Monster **

Kurama quickly slipped Akira's collar into his back pocket when he returned to the temple lawns to find everyone gathered on the lawn at one side of the porch. He casually made his way over to join them, only realising that something was amiss as he drew nearer and realised how quiet they all were. Fubuki was the first to notice his approach, and by the solemn way she looked over at him, he knew something bad must have happened. He jogged over the last few yards, stopping between Fubuki and Koenma, looking down at the section of exterior wall of the temple, just at one side of the porch steps.

"How did it manage to do this when we were just over there?" Kaisei asked Kurama.

Kurama silently shook his head: he did not want to think how it was possible that the Dark Force had managed to leave a message on the temple wall – which had only appeared since they had all gone to the summerhouse for their meeting.

"It's not real blood," Hiei commented.

Kurama had already been able to smell as much, but he remained quiet on the matter.

"She who was born of shadows and darkness, a trinity of life force into one, the ruler's tool and the captain's delight, will fall before the ancestral son," Koenma read aloud. "What does that mean?"

Kurama was not entirely surprised that everyone turned to him expectantly, but he was a little disappointed that Koenma was not even attempting to decipher the riddle.

"And there's another weird mark at the end of it," Fubuki said, pointing to the symbol at the end of the text.

"It's just taunting us now," Hiei said.

"It's worrying that it's this close to the safe house," Koenma

"Is it still nearby somewhere?" Kaisei asked.

"Possibly," Kurama replied.

"Then we should find it," Kuwabara said. "Before it gets into the house."

"Let's split up and check around the area," Kurama suggested. "It can't have gone past the summerhouse, or one of us would have seen or heard it, and Yusuke and Akira went out the top end of the lawn, so they will find anything suspicious in that direction. Kaisei, you and Kuwabara go out onto the road and check that way, Hiei, you check down the temple steps, and Fubuki and I will check over this way."

"And I'm going back to Spirit World," Koenma said.

The others gave him a withering look and he grinned nervously.

"I'm a lover, not a fighter?" he said meekly.

"You should go," Kurama confirmed. "It might be dangerous for you to stay here and you are needed in Spirit World."

Koenma nodded and gladly took his leave as the others split off into their assigned groups and started out in search of any signs of trouble. Once they were out of earshot of the others, Fubuki turned to Kurama.

"I like how you sent Hiei off on his own," she said.

"Hiei works better on his own," Kurama replied. "One of us had to be alone, and it was better to have him on his own than anyone else."

"So you couldn't been the one to search alone?" Fubuki asked.

"Yes, I could have, but then Hiei would have been paired with someone. He and Kuwabara aren't seeing eye-to-eye at the moment – though they rarely have – Hiei seems to get rather agitated around you and I doubt he would tolerate your brother waxing lyrical about conspiracies he sees in simple situations."

"Oh, I see. So you didn't partner yourself with me because you wanted to sneak in some alone time with me?"

Kurama turned to her and she smiled. He turned away again and tried to focus on the task at hand: though he found himself voicing his thoughts regardless.

"We have a week of sitting around here waiting. Perhaps during that time we could think of more pleasant ways to pass the time together."

* * *

Akira slowly opened her eyes, groaning and squinting against the flickering sunlight she was greeted with. As she woke, she became aware that she was hurting in several places: and although that was not an unusual feeling, she was a little concerned that she could not remember how she had been hurt in the first place.

As it occurred to her that she had maybe been hurt worse than she thought during her altercation with Hiei the night before, something sharp and cold suddenly slapped against her face. She sat up abruptly, coughing and spluttering and swiping her hands over her suddenly wet face. She blinked away the excess water and began looking about herself, her heart starting to beat harder when she realised that she was in a random part of a forest, on a sloping, rocky piece of ground. She had no idea how she had gotten to where she was and she had no idea even where she was.

"Well damn am I glad you're on our side."

Akira paused, a sharp sweat breaking out across her brow at the sound of a voice behind her. She knew the voice was Yusuke's, but even knowing who was talking to her was of little reassurance. She heard him start to move and she turned her head sharply, looking up and behind herself as he walked around, holding his wet vest in one hand. There was a small stream not far behind her, and she supposed he must have soaked his vest into it and then wrung it out over her, hence why she had been awoken by a splash of water to the face. As he reached her side, he turned towards her and she noticed then that he looked almost as bad as she felt.

"What, you don't have anything to say to me now?" he asked.

Akira slowly shook her head.

"You were saying plenty before," he said. "Or do you only like talking after you've transformed?"

Akira turned away from him abruptly, clutching her arms around her mid-section, her eyes widening and her heart leaping into her throat. She had no memory of anything beyond following Yusuke into the woods and the feeling of her mounting outrage after the way he had so flippantly spoken about Hiei's passing fancy for her mother. Had it happened again?

"I'm not mad at you, Akira."

Akira did not really care what Yusuke thought about her, or anything else for that matter: she was far more concerned about the fact that she had transformed again. It never happened when she had the collar on, obviously it had happened because she had made Kurama take the collar off of her.

"Actually, I'm kinda impressed."

"You're lucky to be alive, you idiot!"

Akira turned to Yusuke and glared up at him angrily: but her anger shortly gave way to disbelief when he started laughing at her.

"That's cute," he said when he finally stopped laughing. "I guess you get your confidence and quiet broodiness from Hiei, huh?"

He threw down his drenched vest against a rock with a resounding slap and then sat down beside Akira. She turned to look directly ahead, keeping him just on the edge of her vision, as she could no longer look him in the eye. How could he make a joke out of something so serious? When she had transformed in Demon World the SDF had been able to detect it from Spirit World, so surely they would have detected what had just happened. It was only a matter of time before they arrived and if they found out that she was not wearing the collar, they would tell Koenma and the agreement he had made with Akira and Botan would be voided. It was not that Akira feared being executed by Spirit World, but she could not bear to see her mother so distraught again if she was returned to the prison cell.

"I don't know what sort of training you've had with Kuwabara, but if you think you're strong enough to kill me, you're clearly lacking in battle experience," Yusuke continued. "I'm an S-class demon. I've been fighting for years. Even if you were stronger than me – which, for the record, you're not – you could never beat me. You're far too unskilled in real combat."

"You don't know that," Akira muttered.

"I do know that," Yusuke replied. "Because I just beat you unconscious."

Akira paused to consider that what he had said must be true: it certainly explained why she was hurting all over and why she had been unconscious.

"But for the record, why does everybody call you Akira?" Yusuke asked. "Because that's not your real name, right?"

Akira turned to him.

"That is my real name," she replied.

"It can't be!" he said, giving her a lop-sided smile. "Akira's a boy's name. And you're a girl."

"Akira can be a girl's name too," Akira argued.

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"Oh. Okay. I guess. But you are a girl. I didn't know that before."

Akira screwed up her face at him. Over the years she had seen and heard Yusuke do some pretty stupid things, but this had to be one of the densest things he had said yet.

"That's why I kept calling you a boy," he added.

"I thought you were doing that because I'm strong," Akira replied.

Yusuke shook his head.

"Until last night, when you blasted Hiei halfway across the street, and then just now, when you actually gave me the first decent workout I've had since the last Demon World Tournament, I thought you were weak," he said.

Akira felt a little offended, but she supposed it was worse to be thought of as a boy than to be thought of as weak.

"So I gotta question for you," Yusuke said. "Why is it I've never seen, or heard anyone talking about, how strong you actually are?"

"I'm not that strong," Akira muttered, turning away from Yusuke slightly as she felt her face growing hot.

"You hit me more times than I'd like to admit to with your throwing stars and you almost cut me a new asshole with that nasty knife you're carrying around," Yusuke said. "Don't sit there and pretend you don't know what you're capable of."

Akira had no memory of any of those things, but they all sounded horrible and not entirely dissimilar to what she had done to two SDF officers and her teacher during each of the two previous times she had transformed.

"Also, there's no way in hell you're only eight years old," Yusuke added.

"I'm fourteen," Akira quietly replied.

At least that was an easy thing to admit to.

"Are you sure?"

Akira shot Yusuke a brief, irritated glare before turning away again.

"Okay, if you say so," he said. "You kinda looked a lot older than that when you transformed is all."

For a brief, dark moment, Akira found herself feeling curious. She had always been terrified at any mention of the thing she turned into, but it had never before occurred to her what she looked like after the change. The SDF had described her transformed self as a "monster" and so she had tried not to think about it. It mattered not what sort of monster it was: a monster was just a monster.

"Why didn't you transform when Hiei was choking you out last night?"

Hiei was the whole reason she had started transforming. It was because of him that it had happened the first time, and everything that had gone wrong for both Akira and her mother had been because of that one time. It was just one more thing he was to blame for and one more thing he did not care about or even acknowledge.

"You're gonna transform like that when we have to fight an enemy though, right?"

"I can't."

Akira closed her eyes and lowered her head.

"Don't give me that crap," Yusuke said.

Akira opened her eyes and turned to him.

"After what you just did to me, don't sit there and tell me you can't do the same against the Dark Force," he said.

"But I can't!" she wailed. "I have no control over it!"

Yusuke's face changed into what seemed to be a look of disappointment. Akira hated disappointing anyone, least of all one of her mother's friends, but it hardly seemed fair that he was losing faith in her because she had no desire to turn into a monster at will.

"I'm sorry Mister Urameshi," she said. "I don't know how or why it happens. It just does. I can't make it start and I can't make it stop. And… I don't remember what happens when it happens. It's like I just black out and something else takes control of my body."

Yusuke's face changed again.

"Now you think I'm crazy," Akira said dejectedly. "I suppose it does sound crazy."

She bent up her knees and rested her forearms on them before dropping her forehead onto her arms, hiding her face from his line of sight.

"It doesn't sound crazy," Yusuke said. "I'm just surprised because it sounds so damn familiar to me."

"Because it sounds like an excuse," Akira muttered into her knees. "You think I'm making excuses to avoid taking responsibility for my actions."

"Akira, the first time I transformed into my full demon form, I had no control over it either. It was horrible. My great-great-great-grandfather was controlling me with some kind of telepathic puppet trick, and it took a lot of practise for me to reach that state again and have full control over it. Don't beat yourself up for not being able to control it or because you think you've failed somehow. Gees kid, when I was your age I was still having petty little schoolyard fistfights with Kuwabara."

Akira slowly lifted her head, moving her eyes to watch Yusuke side-on.

"You'll never be able to control it if you try to hide it," he said. "You have to let it out – like you just did – and keep pushing yourself."

Akira shook her head. The SDF would never let her do that.

"Damn, it's too bad Genkai isn't still around," Yusuke said. "Six months with her changed me from a kid who could throw a decent punch into a guy who could go toe-to-toe with demons. I bet if we'd put you to Genkai for that long you'd be way tougher now than I was at your age."

Akira turned her head slightly. Yusuke was strange.

"Hell, I think if you got six months of grandma's training now, you could compete in the next Demon World Tournament and you could probably give me, Kurama and Hiei a run for our money."

Akira narrowed her eyes slightly. She was almost sure that he was mocking her.

"It's okay to be afraid if you don't understand what's happening to you," he said. "But the thing is, we're in a pretty bad situation right now, and we need all the help we can get. And honestly, I'm kinda pissed off that we have someone as able as you but you're not helping us."

"I want to help," Akira quickly said.

She had thought that he was making fun of her, but now it seemed that he was angry with her.

"Okay, but you're not really helping if you're not giving us everything you have," Yusuke said.

"But I can't control it!" Akira reminded him. "I don't know what I'm doing when it happens! I could hurt someone!"

Yusuke started to laugh again and Akira was unsure if she wanted to cry or yell at him.

"The whole point of fighting someone that's trying to kill you is to hurt them," he said. "And as for not knowing what you're doing? Trust me kid, on some level, you do know exactly what you're doing when you transform."

"No I don't!" Akira insisted.

"You still remembered how to use all your weapons, you still snuck around in the shadows like you normally do, you still suck at knowing how long to keep your aura suppressed before letting it out to launch an attack – which is why I was able to avoid most of your attacks – and you told me over and over that you were attacking me because you were mad about what I said to you back in the kitchen this morning."

Akira suddenly felt scared again.

"You said you didn't like what I said about your dad having a crush on Botan," Yusuke said.

Fear slowly gave way to irritation.

"I didn't appreciate the things you said to me back there," she said sternly. "I still don't. You were so flippant, like it meant nothing. Like it was some sort of joke everybody enjoys behind my back and… Why are you laughing?"

"You're just so serious!" Yusuke replied. "Man, it's like I've gone to another universe where Hiei is a teenage girl!"

Yusuke started laughing again, but Akira was rapidly losing her patience with him. She no longer cared if he was angry or disappointed with her.

"I'm nothing like Hiei," she said. "Hiei's an asshole – and not even the good kind, like Fubuki. I despise him and I am nothing like him."

Yusuke sobered a little then, smoothing back his quite messy hair with one hand, inadvertently reopening a puncture wound in his left bicep in the process. Akira's eyes lingered on the bloody sore, some of her ire fading as she realised the wound had been created by one of her throwing stars.

"He's one of my best friends, Akira," Yusuke said, looking and sounding more serious. "And he's part of your family, whether you like that or not. And yeah, sure, he can be a total asshole at times, but he's also a pretty decent guy."

"That's just your opinion," Akira grumbled.

"Okay, well, maybe you should get to know Hiei before you decide that you hate him," Yusuke said, a hint of irritation sneaking into his tone. "The two of you are so damn alike, you'd probably end up being the best of friends."

"I can't imagine that," Akira replied. "I'm very like my mother, and Hiei never seems to want to even talk to her."

"That's crazy," Yusuke said, waving a hand at her dismissively. "Hiei's just quiet and he isn't so good at showing how much he likes someone. He really cares about your mom… But not like a normal person cares about someone, more in a sort of… He watches her from far away kind of way."

Akira started to feel the cold dread of panic rising within her.

"He-he stalks my mom?" she asked. "How long has that been going on? And isn't that really messed up and creepy?"

"No, it's not like that!" Yusuke replied. "And damn kid, you're one to talk about being messed up and creepy…"

"I don't stalk people!" Akira cried.

"Okay, well, neither does Hiei."

"You just said he watches my mom from far away. That's stalking."

"You're making it sound really bad, but it's actually sort of cute – in a repressed kind of way."

"I've never been aware of him following mom around… If I had been, I would have chased him off…"

Yusuke started to laugh again, but Akira barely heard him: she was too deep in thought trying to imagine when and where Hiei might have been secretly spying on Botan. There must have been times when he would have seen Akira too: and she wondered what he had thought of her back then.

"Hey, I gotta question for you now," Yusuke said.

"Hmm?" Akira grunted, still mostly concentrating on memories of times in Sapporo with her mother or picnics with her aunt and uncle.

"While you were sleeping off your disguise as a scorned hellcat, I thought of something: I remember a little purple-haired kid sometimes being at Kuwabara's house when I came here to visit. Was that you?"

"No."

"Oh."

"It was the other purple-haired kid who used to visit the Kuwabara family house."

Akira normally hated being facetious – and her mother would have been furious if she had heard what her daughter had just said – but Yusuke was starting to get on her nerves.

"So that was you!" he said, smiling as though she had not just tried to insult him. "I remember one time you were flying around with Botan on her oar. You had longer hair back then and you dressed like a girl."

"I am a girl," Akira replied. "I thought we established that already?"

Yusuke looked suddenly surprised, which oddly made Akira start to worry.

"Hey, you were there!" he said suddenly, pointing a finger directly at her face, his finger almost jabbing the tip of her nose.

"What?" she echoed.

"At Genkai's place, the night we all met up for the first time about the Dark Age, you were there too!" he said. "You were with Botan! You were dressed like… A ferry girl…"

Akira could not turn her head away quickly enough: she knew Yusuke must have seen how red her face had turned.

"Are you embarrassed that you actually looked like a girl that day?" Yusuke asked her.

"No!" she replied. "I didn't even want to dress like that, I only did it because mom made me do it! She said I should dress nice because she wanted me to look nice for Hiei arriving: like I give a damn what Hiei thinks about me!"

"Wow, you really don't like Hiei, huh?"

Akira forced herself not to answer. She did not really know if she could trust Yusuke not to repeat anything she said to anyone else, and if Botan found out that she was bad-mouthing Hiei, they would start fighting again, and Akira hated fighting with her mother. Hiei was the only thing they ever fought about, but he came up in conversation quite often. What Kurama had said the day before about Botan being a spirit and always looking for a positive thing to like about a horrible soul did make a lot of sense, and Akira had been trying to focus on that ever since.

A lot of the things Kurama had said to her made so much sense: it was really nice to speak to someone who actually listened to her and spoke to her like she was just a normal person instead of either treating her like a child – like Koenma usually did – or else treating her like a monster – like any member of the SDF always did. Her mother and the other ferry girls had always treated her fairly, but she had always supposed that was because they were girls. Apart from her Uncle Kazuma, Kurama was the first man to treat her fairly.

It was weird to think that he was Hiei's best and oldest friend.

"Heads up kid, we've got company."

Akira turned her head to find Yusuke on his feet. She quickly stood up, sensing three auras approaching as she reached her feet. They were moving so quickly she barely had time to recognise who they were before they appeared before her eyes. Kurama narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked back and forth between Akira and Yusuke, Hiei glared at Yusuke and Kuwabara was staring at Akira.

"Hey, are you guys okay?" Yusuke asked them. "You all look pretty serious about something…"

"What the hell happened to you?" Hiei asked him.

"Nothing," Yusuke said with a shrug. "I was just hanging out with my new friend Akira."

Akira winced as he dropped a heavy arm across her shoulders. She would usually have been embarrassed by the gesture, but she was too busy wondering when it was that they had become friends and why he was calling her a "new" friend when he had already admitted that he had met her many times before for the last several years.

"The two of you were just sparring with each other all this time?" Kurama asked.

"Yeah," Yusuke said.

"There are large sections of the forest lain to waste all the way here," Kurama said. "And you are almost thirty miles from the temple."

Akira balked: how had they managed to move so far away from the temple?

"Where's your collar, Akira?"

Akira turned her attention to Kuwabara, who was giving her a hard look. She had never seen him look at her that way before and she immediately felt terrible.

"I took it off," she confessed. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to be able to hit Mister Urameshi really hard."

Yusuke started to laugh again, but thankfully nobody else joined in. Kurama reached into his back pocket and produced the collar, nodding at Kuwabara.

"It's my fault, Kuwabara," he said. "I suggested this."

Akira started to shake her head, but before she could argue that she had made Kurama remove the collar, he continued with his lie.

"I thought it might be wise to let Akira train without it," he said. "We need all the help we can get in this battle, and a unnecessarily handicapped fighter is more of a hindrance than a help."

"You can't let anyone know about this," Kuwabara told him.

"I won't," Kurama replied.

"None of you can," Kuwabara added, looking around the others.

"Just put it back on, please," Akira said to Kurama.

He nodded and started towards her, but before he could reach her, the collar was snatched out of his hands.

"What is this thing?" Yusuke asked, turning it over in his hands. "Why does the kid have to wear it? What does it do? Hey, it's got the Spirit World symbol on it!"

"It's a power inhibition collar," Hiei said. "Spirit World attaches them to prisoners they believe to be a threat."

Yusuke looked over at Akira.

"So why do you need to wear one?" he asked.

Akira started to ask for the collar back, but Yusuke cut her off.

"Wait, "power inhibition"?" he asked, turning to Hiei. "Doesn't "inhibition" mean prevention or reduction or something?"

"It means restriction," Kurama offered.

"That's dumb," Yusuke concluded. "Also, why the hell would we want one of our team wearing one of these things anyway?"

He grabbed the collar in both hands as though he intended to break it apart. Akira gasped and started to reach out a hand to stop him, but she was beaten to her goal by Kurama, who grabbed one of Yusuke's wrists and yanked the collar from his hands with his other hand.

"This isn't a matter that's up for discussion, I'm afraid," he said, his voice no louder or uneven than usual, but with a distinct edge of harshness to his words. "Please don't bother Akira about this matter."

Kurama then released Yusuke's wrist and turned to Akira again.

"Thank you, Kurama," she said as he reattached the collar.

He smiled gently at her and nodded his head. It was like he really understood her. It was so strange to meet a man who made so much sense.

"Okay, but that's really not helpful," Yusuke complained.

"Forget about it, Urameshi," Kuwabara said. "We've got bigger problems: there was a weird riddle painted on the outside of the safe house in fake blood."

"What?" Yusuke echoed.

"We conducted a sweep of the area, but we found no trace of anything untoward that may have left the message," Kurama said. "And when we reconvened, it occurred to us that the two of you were still absent. We left Kaisei and Fubuki guarding the house and we came out here to try to track you down."

"We didn't think you'd be this far away," Kuwabara added.

"We should get back to the house," Kurama suggested.

"So Koenma was wrong about this again, huh?" Yusuke grumbled.

"Koenma gets a lot of things way wrong," Kuwabara added. "Come on Akira, let's go."

Akira nodded and fell into step alongside her uncle as they started back through the woods. Kurama shortly joined them, but Yusuke and Hiei lingered behind: though Akira was glad, as she had been dreading having to listen to anything Hiei had to say.

* * *

"What?" Yusuke asked.

Hiei narrowed his eyes into a look that he hoped would convey the answer to Yusuke's question.

"Don't you want to get back and check that the Dark Force hasn't followed us here?" Yusuke asked.

"We already did check," Hiei replied. "While you were out here playing with your son."

To Hiei's absolute horror, Yusuke laughed at him. There was nothing funny about the fact that Yukina had birthed a child that appeared to be Yusuke's. It was the only logical explanation for not only the child's hair colour, but also for his ability to use spirit energy as well as demon energy.

"You've got no idea what you're talking about, three eyes," Yusuke said. "Even if I was that kid's father, you'd still be wrong to say the kid is my son."

"I've just spent the last few hours scurrying around the human world looking for traces of an enemy who left us a riddle," Hiei flatly replied. "I'm in no humour to try to decipher riddles created by a mind as base as yours."

"Base?"

Hiei sighed.

"I suppose that's another way of saying I'm stupid, right?"

Hiei did not bother answering. He doubted that he needed to.

"That's fine," Yusuke said with a shrug. "I'm in a good mood right now, so I'm gonna let you away with it."

"I don't see what you have to be optimistic about," Hiei answered. "If the Dark Force is leaving messages here, that means it is already confident it can take over Spirit World: and that's something I can't disagree with."

"Okay Hiei, I know things didn't go well in Demon World, and, don't get me wrong, I'm still mad at this bastard and I still want to kick his ass for what he's done so far," Yusuke said, finally looking and sounding more appropriately serious. "But most of the reason why I felt so bad after all of that was because I thought that now there was really only you, me and Kurama left to fight this thing. But I've changed my mind about that."

Hiei had a vague idea of what Yusuke was hinting at – either he was going to suggest that the SDF could somehow be useful or he was going to say that he had confidence in the miserable, ragtag team in the living world – but whatever the case, Hiei did not want to hear Yusuke confirm it.

"How nice for you," he said, before stuffing his hands into his pockets and starting back through the woods. Kurama, Kuwabara and the brat were almost out of sight already, but that was a good thing as it saved Hiei the bother of having to listen to them talk.

"Hiei, I'm serious," Yusuke said, hurrying after Hiei and falling into step at his side. "That kid might actually be useful."

Hiei tensed.

"That kid is hopeless," he said.

"No, Hiei, I had to actually try against that kid," Yusuke insisted.

"That's not funny, Yusuke," Hiei replied. "Your standard for sarcastic humour has really fallen of late."

"And the tightness of your asshole has really increased of late…"

"I heard that."

"You were meant to."

Hiei growled. His instinct was to walk faster, but that would ultimately mean catching up to the others, and even an overly sarcastic Yusuke was preferable to spending even one second around Kuwabara or the kid.

"Look Hiei, I know you won't believe it until you see it, but I'm telling you, when you do see it, you'll agree with me," Yusuke said after a short silence. "Even Kaito said it when he met her: that kid is pretty useful."

Hiei narrowed his eyes slightly. He was almost sure Yusuke had just referred to the kid as "her". It was probably meant to be another of his jokes, but Hiei failed to see any humour in it.

"You're gonna be humble as shit when you see it, Hiei," Yusuke insisted. "It's just too bad that kid didn't train with us instead of Kuwabara."

"That's exactly the point I was trying to make," Hiei pointed out. "That kid doesn't belong in this world. He belongs in Demon World. He should have been raised in Demon World."

"Right. But we could probably still use this week to teach her a few things."

"Speak for yourself. I don't have time for babysitting."

"What else are you gonna get up to this week, Hiei?"

Hiei made to deliver a sarcastic response, but his mind went blank. It was rare that he found himself at a loss for a good put-down or a biting refusal of a social invitation, but, despite desperately wanting to avoid spending any more time around the child his sister had birthed with some inferior being, he failed to think of a decent response to Yusuke's invitation.

"We need to figure out what the deal is with that collar, though," Yusuke continued when Hiei did not answer him. "Because it's a real pain in the ass right now."

Hiei was a little curious about what the kid had done to end up such an enemy of Spirit World: though his presence on High Road with Botan the day the Dark Force had allegedly awoken was reason enough for Spirit World to condemn him.

And, with that thought, Hiei again wondered why the kid had come to Demon World with Botan that day.

* * *

Botan knelt down at the low table, smiling at the cheery ferry girls around her all chatting happily amongst themselves. When they started dishing out tea and cakes, she started to grow suspicious, but as none of the others were reacting, she wondered at first if maybe she was letting her paranoia get the better of her. But, when the other girls all started eating and drinking, Botan felt that she had to voice her concern.

"Girls?" she said.

They looked her way, but did not stop consuming their snacks.

"Where's Momiji?" she asked.

The other ferry girls looked around each other before one leaned forwards.

"She's late," she said. "She was on the twilight shift but she hasn't come back yet."

There were always five ferry girls off-duty at any one time, and so Momiji's absence was quite noticeable, and it was very unlike her to miss the morning tea-break with her colleagues. Unable to just sit and ignore what the other girls seemed to barely even notice, Botan excused herself and hurriedly left the break room, running all the way to the ferry girl accommodation wing of the temple. She was aiming for Momiji's room, which was three doors beyond her own, but, halfway there, she noticed a door wide open and the room inside vacant. She stopped and slowly edged into the room, looking around it to remind herself who's room it was before realising that Momiji was not the only ferry girl mysteriously absent.

Botan backed out of the room and slowly looked up and down the length of the corridor. Something felt amiss.

She contemplated consulting Koenma on the matter, but she was suspicious that he would not be entirely honest with her: earlier that day he had been declaring that the Dark Age was well in-hand and predicting that it would shortly be over, with little or no impact on Spirit World. She suspected that he was either sugar-coating the facts – something he did often do, with the best of intentions – or else he was not fully aware of the situation himself. Ayame was out working, and Botan did not know anyone else knowledgeable enough to ask: she knew that any member of the SDF might know more, but she did not want to approach any of them.

And so Botan decided to try one last avenue of investigation on the matter. She hurried to the nearest exit out the temple and quickly and quietly made her way, on foot, to the edges of the temple boundaries before checking that she was alone and then summoning her oar and rocketing off in the direction of the misty mountains on the distant horizon.

After some time of flying and fighting off a panic attack, Botan rounded the valley between the mountains and reached the sprawling forest beyond. She had intended to fly onwards until she sighted the giant tree Ayame had introduced her to, but she found herself slowing to a halt and almost falling out of the sky. The mist that the forest had been enshrouded in during her last visit there had thinned considerably, showing much more of the forest. The ordinary trees still looked as they had during her previous visit – those at the edges all had vibrant foliage and some had flowers or fruits, but as they moved towards the centre, they gradually became less bountiful until finally they become bare and barren – but the one enormous tree at the centre of the forest that grew high up into the clouds, looked different. Were it not so large and had it not looked to stark and bleak the first time she had seen it, Botan would not have been so surprised by what she was looking at, as, for the most part, it was still a bare and foreboding tree.

But it was different.

Botan drifted along, her attention mostly focused on the giant tree, which caused her to deviate a little on her flight path as she went. The bark of the tree was no longer so dull and cracked and that alone made the tree no longer look like it had died after being struck by lightning (which was how it had looked before), and, at infrequent intervals, there were small bursts of budding leaves along the branches.

There was no denying it, the tree had been revived. It had been devoid of all life, but now it was coming to life, and that could only mean one thing: Momiji was dead.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** Akira chases after a mysterious figure in the woods that ultimately leads her to a confrontation with Hiei, after which Hiei returns to the safe house for a palm-reading from Shogo Sato that doesn't go quite as expected. **Chapter 27 – Nothing to Prove**

**A/N: **So I said I was going to slow this story down, and this chapter was pretty slow, but that isn't going to last long, because the story is ramping up again because I had some interesting ideas for how to handle bringing the SDF into this (I know, like this fic really needs more characters, right?!)


	27. Nothing to Prove

**Chapter 27 – Nothing to Prove**

Akira leapt from tree to tree, stopping occasionally to acknowledge how far from the temple she had strayed. It was her shift on guard duty, and the feeling of a minor disturbance had drawn her into the trees some time ago, but she could not quite pinpoint it. Whatever it was, it was not especially powerful but it was moving at an impressive speed. She was nearing the agreed boundary the team had set for guard duty operations, and she was not keen to stray beyond it without telling someone else first – she promised Kuwabara she would not leave the boundary without at least telling him, and she could not break a promise she had made to him – but equally she was growing irritated with chasing after whatever it was that was scurrying about the forest, and she was determined to catch it. When she felt it shift direction, she paused to consider that it appeared to be moving in a pattern. She waited on point for it to change direction twice more before moving off in another direction. At first she could feel herself moving away from it, but before long she was jumping through the trees in parallel with it and then finally she was heading straight towards it.

Akira dropped down to a low tree branch, the combination of the early nightfall and the denseness of the trees making visibility quite poor at that level, and, when she saw a solid shadow moving, she launched herself at it.

Akira collided with a tree trunk, shoulder first, and landed in a crumpled heap amongst the tree roots. She shook herself off and looked up at the shadow standing over her, her face quickly filling with panic.

"I didn't know it was you!" she hurriedly said. "I-I thought I felt something out here, I didn't know it was you!"

"You missed me," a voice flatly answered her.

"I intentionally missed you," Akira quickly pointed out. "Because I realised it was you as I started coming at you! What are you doing out here at this time of day?"

The figure in front of her turned slightly, looking up at the darkening sky overhead. As she waited for an answer, Akira got to her feet, brushing chunks of tree bark from her clothing with the flats of her hands.

"I was gathering herbs."

Akira paused, her hands hovering over the splinters covering her thighs.

"This is the best time of day to find and harvest night-blooming jasmine."

Akira straightened up and let her hands fall to her sides.

"And the only place you can find night-blooming jasmine is this far from the safe house?" she asked.

Yukina turned back to face her, giving her a slightly odd look, before purposefully looking over her shoulder again. Suspecting that she was doing so for a substantial reason, Akira leaned slightly to one side and followed the direction her aunt was looking, noticing then a single length of translucent orange plastic tied around a low-hanging tree branch.

"Isn't that one of the markers of the boundary of the area you're guarding?" Yukina asked.

"Yes," Akira quietly replied.

"And aren't you now on the wrong side of it?"

Akira started to apologise and try to excuse herself, but her voice faded as it occurred to her that Yukina too was beyond the boundary of the "safe" area.

"But, then, aren't you outside of the boundary too?" she pointed out.

"Does Kazuma know you've wandered this far from the safe house?"

Akira felt an almost physically painful pang of guilt. She shook her head.

"No, I'm sorry," she said meekly. "I was chasing after something, I didn't think it would come this far – I was trying outmanoeuvre it, I didn't notice how close to the boundary I'd gotten."

Yukina looked about herself before meeting Akira's eyes.

"What were you chasing after?" she asked. "I've been out here for some time, and I haven't seen or felt any presence here."

Akira looked about herself, her face twitching in a combination of irritation and humiliation when she realised that what Yukina was saying appeared to be true: whatever she been chasing, something she had been so close to catching, had vanished without a trace.

"Do you think it's unsafe for me to be out here?" Yukina asked.

Akira turned back to her and found her looking worried.

"Oh, well, no, I guess it's not dangerous now," she replied. "But, um, maybe you shouldn't come out this far without Uncle Kazuma. Or Aunty Shizuru."

Yukina smiled softly and touched a hand to Akira's arm.

"Thank you for watching over me," she said gently. "And you're right, we shouldn't have wandered this far from the safe house – either of us. Let's go back. Will you walk with me, to keep me safe?"

Akira smiled and nodded.

"Sure," she said, stepping forwards and waiting for Yukina to turn at her side before walking back towards the boundary line with her. "If I had a communication mirror, I would have called someone to let them know I was chasing something."

"I thought you just said you weren't chasing anything?" Yukina asked.

"No, I was chasing something, but I lost it," Akira replied.

"Are you sure about that?"

Akira did think it was odd that Yukina had not noticed the thing that had drawn her so far into the woods, as it had disappeared at the point where it must have crossed paths with Yukina directly, almost as if Yukina had caused it to vanish somehow. Akira then felt a little embarrassed as the idea occurred to her that perhaps her sweet-natured aunt, who never wanted to tell her anything negative, had in fact killed whatever it was that had been darting about the woods, and that she was pretending now that it had never existed to save Akira the embarrassment of finding out that a weak and fragile ice maiden had managed to do what she had just wasted the best part of an hour attempting.

"Maybe it's just as well I don't have a communicator," she concluded aloud. "I would have looked pretty stupid if I'd called the whole team out here to find just you picking night flowers…"

"Don't worry about it Akira, it didn't happen and I won't tell anyone that you went beyond the boundary without reporting back," Yukina said in her usual, considerate, reassuring manner.

"Thanks Aunty Yukina," Akira said.

"And you won't tell anyone that I came out here beyond the boundary either."

Akira thought it a little odd that Yukina's response had sounded more like an instruction than a question, and it was unlike her to make such a suggestion – usually it was only Kuwabara who made such pacts with her – but she was glad Yukina had suggested what she had, as Akira herself was a really poor liar, and she knew she would otherwise have ended up admitting that she had broken her promise to not step outside of the boundary whilst on guard duty.

"Okay," she said. "It's curious though, I definitely did feel something moving about really fast."

"Maybe it was someone from the house out training," Yukina suggested.

Akira shook her head.

"It was moving really fast," she said. "And it didn't feel like anyone from inside the house. It was demon, but… Different…"

"Maybe you were confused," Yukina said. "Maybe you sensed my demon energy and because you were moving about so quickly, you got confused."

Akira screwed up her face. She was rarely confident of any of her abilities, but she was sure of both her natural instinctive ability to sense energy and her trained skills in tracking a signal.

"You seem a little out of sorts since your father got here," Yukina continued. "Maybe you're just a little distracted by his presence here."

Akira's face dropped.

"I don't care that he's here," she said. "What about you, Aunty Yukina? Is it weird for you to see him again? You know, since he is apparently your brother…"

"He's helping us fight the enemy and he is a very strong fighter," Yukina replied, as tactfully as usual. "I don't think he'll spend much time inside the house with the rest of us, but I would welcome him if he decided to."

"I bet it's killing him that he has to be here right now," Akira grumbled.

"Maybe while he's here, you could talk to him," Yukina suggested.

"Pfft, what would we even talk about?"

Akira was angry that Yukina would even make such a suggestion: she knew as well as anyone else in their family that Hiei had never spoken to Akira before, and that he had consistently refused to have contact with her when Botan had tried to convince him otherwise. But Yukina was so kind and her feelings were sometimes as delicate as the rest of her, and so Akira contained her ire as best she could.

"A lot has happened since you last saw him," Yukina said. "Maybe things will be different now. Maybe you could get to know him now."

Prior to her tenth birthday, Akira would have fallen over herself for a chance to get to know Hiei. The idea of him coming to stay under the same roof as her for (at least) a week would have been her idea of heaven: but that idea abruptly changed that day on High Road, and her feelings had become progressively more toxic and negative towards Hiei with time. After the incident on High Road, she had been left wondering why he had never tried to make contact with her before, why he wanted her dead and why he did not even acknowledge that she had basically ended up on death row because of him. Botan had always described him as "honourable" and she had spoken about him making sacrifices for his team-mates and friends: but that seemed illogical when he could not even sacrifice five minutes of his time to visit Spirit World and explain to the SDF that he had caused everything that had happened on High Road. His lack of presence during that time was all the more painful because, for the first week, Akira had not been allowed any visitors other than Konema, and when her mother had finally been allowed to visit her, the first thing she had done had been to promise that she would get Hiei and they could all relocate to Demon World. For a brief, glorious moment in an otherwise desperate and desolate time, Akira had genuinely believed that there was hope. She had believed that Hiei would come to Spirit World and demand that she be freed, and that she and her mother would move back to Demon World and live with Hiei as a family.

But when Botan had returned from Demon World, the look on her face alone had been all the answer Akira had needed to know that Hiei had, once again, let her down.

That, combined with the way he had treated her since the start of the counter-attack against the Dark Force, had led Akira to the conclusion that her father was ashamed of her: after all, there really was no other explanation for his behaviour. He could barely stand to be around or even to look directly at her (except for when he was trying to kill her). She wanted to tell her mother that she believed this, but she knew it would upset Botan, who – quite foolishly, Akira thought – still appeared to believe that the three of them would one day be a happy little family unit.

And, just as she was really starting to become consumed by her darker thoughts about Hiei, as though on cue, he dropped onto the forest floor ahead of her.

"Hiei!" Yukina gasped, stopping abruptly.

Akira stopped and took a step back to stand alongside her aunt. She then folded her arms over her chest to hide – mostly from her own eyes – the fact that her hands had started to shake.

"What are the two of you doing out here?" Hiei asked, his eyes on Yukina.

"I was gathering herbs," Yukina replied. "I accidentally wandered too far and Akira came out here to guide me back."

Hiei's eyes moved to Akira and she tensed, straightening her back and squaring her jaw.

"I was following a fast-moving, meddlesome demon," he said. "The source of the energy disappeared somewhere around here, and when I got here, I find you. Why am I not surprised?"

Akira opened her mouth and unfolded her arms to point an accusing finger at him, ready to tell him exactly what she thought of him following her: but Yukina started talking and so she held back, purely out of respect for her aunt.

"That's so silly!" Yukina said with a friendly smile. "It seems the two of you must have been tracking each other! Well, no matter. Why don't we all return to the temple? I was preparing dough for sweet bread rolls earlier, it should be ready to bake by now. Akira, why don't you give me a hand to knead the dough?"

Akira smiled at her aunt and nodded and, looking down at Yukina's warm smile and large, calm eyes, she could feel herself relaxing and forgetting about her concerns already.

"I'd like that," she said.

Yukina nodded.

"I'm sure you would, Akira."

And, far faster than it had faded, all of Akira's anger rose to the surface again. She whipped around to face Hiei again, glaring at him angrily. She had waited all her life to hear him say her name, why had he chosen to say it at the end of such a sarcastic, condescending and accusatory statement?

"Oh, so you do actually know that my name is Akira, do you?" she snapped at him.

"Unfortunately yes, I do," Hiei replied, his face as frustratingly indifferent as ever.

"Unfortunately? What's that supposed to mean?" Akira echoed.

"I suggest you calm down."

"Don't you dare tell me what to do! And don't mock my name! It's not like you had anything to do with even choosing it, is it?"

Hiei grunted out that "hn" noise he kept irritatingly making.

"Why would I choose a name for you?" he asked. "I don't even care that you were bo–"

Hiei stopped suddenly and his face changed: he was looking at Yukina, who was staring at him from behind tearful eyes, but Akira barely cared why he had stopped. After all, it was clear what he had been about to say.

"Don't cry," she said softly to Yukina. "He's not worth it."

"Why do you keep saying such horrible things about your own family, Hiei?" the ice maiden asked her wayward brother.

For a brief moment, he looked like he actually felt guilty. But the moment was, unsurprisingly, short-lived.

"We're in a relatively safe part of the woods here," he said. "Continue back to the temple, Yukina. Leave me with Akira."

"I don't have anything to say to you!" Akira said.

"Maybe I have something to say to you," he said in a low voice, casting her a brief look that she really felt sickened by.

"Talk to him, it will be good."

Akira turned to Yukina, horrified at her words.

"It'll be fine," Yukina said, suddenly seeming incredibly naïve to Akira. "Just talk to him."

"Please don't leave me alone with him!" Akira hissed. "Please!"

"I have to get back," Yukina replied. "Just talk to him."

"No! At least send out Uncle Kazuma! Or call mom! Or send Aunty Shizuru! Or Kurama! Or Fubuki! Please, just don't leave me alone with him!"

"You'll be fine."

"I'll even accept Kaisei at this point!"

Yukina smiled as though Akira had just told her a joke and then started to walk away. She bowed her head to Hiei as she passed him, and, to Akira's surprise, Hiei returned the gesture. Akira started to feel betrayed then: she had thought that Yukina shared her opinion of Hiei as a worthless father and traitor, but she appeared not to care that he had ignored his family – including her, his sister – for so many years. Akira kept her eyes on her aunt until she was out of sight before reluctantly moving her eyes to Hiei, finding him already watching her.

"If you and I are to be allies, we need to set a few ground rules," he said.

"Stay out of my space and we'll be fine!" Akira shot back at him.

"Hn, I was just about to say the same thing," he replied with a dark smirk.

Akira growled. The last thing she needed was him making jokes about how they thought alike.

"I'm nothing like you," she told him. "Because I actually do think we should stay away from each other: and that's why I'm not the one who just sought you out!"

Hiei faltered slightly and Akira tried not to show how smug she felt.

"I didn't seek you out because I secretly want to be around you," he recovered.

"I already know you don't want to be around me…" Akira grumbled.

"But equally I can't accept you into the team if you intend to use every battle as an excuse to turn on me like you did last night."

It was Akira's turn to flounder then: she could logically see that what he was saying made sense, but she could not get past the fact that she wanted to punch him as many times as she had seen her mother cry over him.

"I don't care for you at all," he continued, only making Akira feel even more conflicted towards him. "And I don't trust Kuwabara to give me an honest opinion of you, as he is clearly too close to you. However, I do trust Yusuke and Kurama, and they both wish to keep you as a close ally, and so I too am duty-bound to accept you. But understand this: if you survive the Dark Age, I better not see you again until the next Dark Age, because if I so much as catch one glimpse of you cruising about practising your human martial arts, I will make you pay for what you did to me last night."

"I didn't do anything to you last night!" Akira snapped.

She was shaking all over and telling herself over and over that the tears that were threatening were from frustration and nothing more.

"You purposely attacked me instead of the enemy," Hiei replied.

"You got in the way!" she argued.

"No, that's an excuse you're using to justify what you did," he retaliated. "You behaved like a child – which, I suppose, is only to be expected, as you are but a child–"

"Don't stand there and call me immature like you're not totally immature when you go sulking in trees and ignoring people and being rude and calling people names!"

Hiei did not answer, but the look he was giving Akira was far worse than anything he could say to her at that point. He looked bored, as though she had already taken up too much of his time, and as though he thought she had not understood anything he had just said because she was just a dumb kid to him. She balled her fists at her sides and lowered her head, clenching her jaws tightly together and inwardly cursing herself as tears began welling up in her eyes. She hated for anyone to see her cry, the last thing she needed was for Hiei to scoff at her for losing control of her emotions just because he had criticised her: she did not even care what he thought, so his words really should not have mattered, far less had such a profound effect on her.

She held her position, her breath shuddering at the humiliating feeling of a tear escaping one eye and sliding down her nose. In that position, concentrating on holding in the worst of her feelings, it was easy to forget where she was and who was with her: but she was swiftly reminded when she felt a slight displacement of air and Hiei's feet suddenly appeared in her line of sight, standing a short distance from her own.

Akira slowly lifted her head, peering through the ends of her hair at Hiei, who was watching her with an almost curious expression. Then, despite him having moved towards her at lightning speed, he slowly reached a hand out towards her. She tensed, her eyes flicking back and forth between his questioning eyes and the finger he was loosely pointing at her face. She started to shirk out of his reach but he managed to lightly swipe the side of his index finger against her cheek before she could evade him entirely. She was ready to shout at him or defend herself from an attack, but she lost the urge to do either when Hiei brought his finger so close to his face that he was forced to cross his eyes slightly to focus on it. Drawn into the moment, Akira copied his actions, watching his finger as the wet smear of her tear began drying into his skin.

At the same moment, both Hiei and Akira lifted their eyes from Hiei's finger and both looked directly at each other.

"You cry tears," Hiei said quietly.

Akira pouted.

"I'm not crying," she argued. "I'm just irritated."

"Crying is usually how children express their anger, isn't it?" Hiei mumbled.

"I'm not a child!" Akira snapped.

"This doesn't make any sense."

Akira tilted her head slightly as Hiei held up his finger. She had no idea what he was referring to, but she knew that it was surely something derogatory aimed at her.

"You don't make any sense," she muttered.

Hiei grunted out another "hn" sound and then, much to Akira's relief, he took off. Once he was gone far enough away that she felt sure he would not return, she sighed and relaxed her shoulders before snivelling and swiping her hands at the wet marks on her face.

She really hoped Hiei had meant what he had said about staying out of her way during the next week.

* * *

Hiei had not intended to enter the "safe house" at any time, but he wanted to check something that required him to do just that. Due to the hour, he hoped that most of those inside had already gone to bed for the night, and the darkened windows on his approach suggested that may well be the case: but he had the misfortune of being noticed by the two people sitting out on the porch at the exact same moment that he noticed them, making it impossible for him to avoid them.

Hiei had long ago given up trying to understand Kurama's affection for the living world and its human residents, but he could not help but baulk when he found Kurama sitting on the top porch step alongside the annoying human Fubuki. They were sitting so close together they might as well be sitting on top of each other and she kept touching him unnecessary and flirtatiously as she spoke to him, and Kurama, for his part, was doing nothing to reject her advances: rather he was smiling back at her and watching her with that sickening soft-eyed look he usually only reserved for his human mother.

"Good evening, Hiei," Kurama called out to Hiei as he stepped into the pool of light spilling out onto the lawn from the porch lights.

"Oh hey there, little man," Fubuki added.

Hiei said nothing, instead continuing on at the same pace, his hands in his pockets and his eyes on the temple door.

"Are you staying indoors tonight, Hiei?" Kurama asked.

"No," Hiei mumbled back as he started to climb the porch steps.

"That's probably just as well," Fubuki said. "The only free sleeping space is the low camping bed in Akira's room."

"I don't think it would be appropriate for Hiei to share a room with Akira," Kurama said.

"Why not?" Fubuki asked with a smile. "They're both short, quirky, fire boys. Maybe they'd be good friends."

Hiei sighed and continued past Kurama towards the door.

"Fubuki, there's something you should know about Akira," Kurama said.

Hiei rolled his eyes and pushed open the door, stepping over the threshold.

"Fubuki, Akira is a girl."

Hiei almost tripped as he brought his other foot through the doorway.

"That's not funny, foxy!" Fubuki giggled.

"No, it's not," Kurama solemnly replied. "But it is true: Akira is a girl. It wouldn't be appropriate to make her share a bedroom with a man. If Hiei did decide to stay inside the temple, it would make more sense for Akira to move into Yukina's bedroom, and then Kuwabara and Hiei could share Akira's room."

Hiei slammed the door shut behind himself: he would rather suffer an eternal Dark Age than share sleeping quarters with Kuwabara.

However, what Kurama had just said was perhaps not as odd as it had sounded at first. Akira clearly was not a true emiko, as a true emiko was capable of producing hiruiseki. Hiei started to wonder if Akira was just an ice maiden, if Yukina had just reached one hundred years old and had a child naturally: Hiei was ashamed to admit that he had lost count of the years of his own life, but he had been sure that he was still just short of having lived through a whole century. But, he thought to himself as he walked down the hallway, Akira could muster the Darkness Flame, and that was something only an emiko ought to be able to do.

Hiei slowed to a halt and turned his head to his left.

He was looking at a wall of photographs, the same wall of the same photographs that had been a part of the temple's décor for some time. There were more photographs than he could remember there ever being – he was sure there had not even been that many on the night the team had all gathered there for Keiko's birthday party – but they were still the same nonsense images of everyone he knew.

And everyone he did not.

Hiei turned fully towards the wall and approached it, his hand starting towards a photo of what was apparently Yukina's wedding day. His fingers lingered by the outer edge of the image of his sister, dressed in a formal kimono, with her hair swept up into a bun and her hand clutching a parasol and a bunch of white flowers, standing next to Kuwabara, who looked borderline absurd dressed in formal clothing with a serious expression on his face and his hair brushed back in a style it was rapidly punking out of thanks to its natural curl. They were standing side-by-side on a red wooden bridge over a pretty little pond, set in gardens not too dissimilar from those around Genkai's temple: and, at one side of the photo, in the background and blurred slightly out of focus, Hiei could see what appeared to be Kurama (dressed in a formal suit), Keiko (dressed in a prudishly long pencil skirt and baggy blouse), Yusuke's mother with her arm around Kuwabara's father, Shizuru (who was dressed in a better-looking and better-fitting suit than Kurama) and Botan, dressed in the sort of flowery kimono she had worn to the first Demon World Tournament. Whilst there was nothing unusual about any of those present (and it was only slightly unusual that they were appearing in the background of an informal photograph of the occasion), it was odd that there was also a little kid in the background of the image, dressed in a kimono quite similar to the one Botan was wearing, and holding a bunch of white flowers. There was only one clue as to who the kid was and why she was there, but it was quite an obvious clue: she had lilac hair.

Hiei moved his hand slightly to the left, uncovering another photo of the same kid, taken perhaps a year or two later. In that photo there was only the kid and Botan, who was holding the kid in her arms facing her, and the two were smiling at each other. They were in casual summer dresses and appeared to be standing on a white sand beach on a sunny day. Seeing the kid in focus, she looked alarmingly like an ice maiden – and undeniably like Akira.

Hiei took a step back from the wall, letting his hand fall to his side as he scanned over the many photographs pinned up there. Several of them included Akira at various stages of her life, and it was only in the more recent photos that she had changed into the short-haired, sulky, slightly underweight androgynous figure in black that he was more familiar with. But, regardless of when the photos had been taken – whether it was photos of Akira as an infant or photos that looked as though they had been taken that day – one thing consistently stood out.

There were a great many more photographs of Akira with Botan than there were of Akira on her own or with anyone else.

Hiei took another step back to get a better overview of the wall, but as he did so, he suddenly became aware that he was no longer alone in the hallway: which was odd, because he had not heard or felt anyone approaching him. He turned his head suddenly, causing the person next to him to flinch visibly.

"Whoa, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you!"

Hiei narrowed his eyes: as if a bumbling human could possibly "startle" him.

"You looked like you were deep in thought," the man continued, waving a hand at the wall of photographs. "There's a lot of memories up there. A lot of emotion and family connections."

"Who the hell are you?" Hiei growled.

"Oh I'm sorry, I should introduce myself," the man replied, sweating slightly and fidgeting with his ill-fitting shirt. "My name's Shogo Sato, I'm Kaisei and Fubuki's father. I recently came to stay at this house, and I do enjoy looking at these photos."

Hiei never cared for making small talk with anyone at any time, but, at the current juncture of time, he was especially opposed to humouring the prattlings of a weedy human man.

"I'm a writer," Shogo continued, apparently oblivious to how little Hiei cared about anything he had to say about himself or any other subject. "And I find all the characters portrayed here to be just fascinating subjects."

Hiei gave him one last hard look before turning to take his leave.

"Writing isn't the only thing I do."

Hiei paused. He was not sure why he had stopped, but something about the tone Shogo had spoken in had captured his interest in a way he could not explain.

"I also have a little hobby of reading people's palms."

Hiei was aware of the human practise of reading palms: it was an art that a few, select, skilled psychic humans were capable of performing, but Kurama had warned Hiei that most human practitioners were frauds who used leading questions and verbal trickery to give the impression of being able to see someone's future from looking at the creases in their palms.

"How nice for you," Hiei said.

He had intended to leave with that scathing remark, but he found himself unable to lift his feet from the ground.

"Would you like me to read your palm?"

"No."

Hiei frowned when he found himself turned around and once more facing Shogo. Shogo smiled awkwardly and readjusted his frameless glasses over the bridge of his nose.

"Your friends were all the same," he said. "They all wanted me to read their fortunes, but they too were all worried about what I might tell them at such a dire time as this."

"I'm not afraid," Hiei said stubbornly. "I just don't believe that a human as powerless as you could possess such a skill. Also, I don't need someone else to hazard a guess at my destiny, because I am quite capable of doing so myself."

Hiei removed his bandana and opened his third eye, watching with an amused smirk as Shogo turned pale, burst out in a sweat and took a wary step back.

"It's strange," he said weakly. "Even though my wife has been haunted by demons as long as I've known her and my children have been battling demons since they could stand upright, it still freaks me out to see just what you demons are really capable of."

"You have no idea what I'm really capable of," Hiei replied.

Shogo nodded and dragged the back of one hand across his forehead as Hiei finally replaced his bandana.

"But humour me, because I have some time to spare."

Hiei began unravelling the bandage around his left hand – he was not about to uncover his right hand, lest anyone see that he was missing the mark of the Dragon of the Darkness Flame – watching Shogo carefully as he did so.

"It doesn't matter which hand I show you, does it?" he asked.

Shogo shook his head, looking torn between his own curiosity and his still evident fear. Hiei stopped once he had exposed the entirety of his left hand and part of his wrist before bundling up the unravelled bandaging and tucking it back under itself to hold it in place. He then held out his hand, palm up, towards Shogo, who nodded nervously and edged closer to him. He pointlessly pushed his glasses up over the bridge of his nose again, but they slid back down almost immediately, aided by the layer of sweat coating his face. He reached pale, shaking, sweaty hands towards Hiei's outstretched hand, his eyes lowering to his subject. Hiei's top lip curled up in an involuntary display of disgust as he felt clammy fingertips lightly touching the sides of his hand.

"Ah, well, this is very interesting…" Shogo said warily. "There's an unusual branch off of your lifeline."

"Fascinating," Hiei sarcastically replied.

Shogo lifted his eyes to Hiei's, studying him for a moment before a vague look of understanding passed over his face.

"I-it means there has been a great divide in your life," he explained. "It also means your prone to such divisions."

Hiei contained a sigh of annoyance. Shogo's last remark could be referencing anything and it could probably apply to anyone it was said to: apparently he was just another one of the frauds Kurama had warned of.

"The divisions you have faced have not been entirely of your doing, but you've never had the inclination to rectify or prevent them. Any attempts you have made have been minor and often performed too late to be effective. You never blame yourself for this though, partly because you don't harbour regrets and partly because you lack the emotional maturity to understand where you may have erred along the way."

Hiei felt strange. He knew that he ought to be offended as a pitiful, powerless human stood before him and effectively criticised him without even knowing him, but he was equally struck by how accurate his words were and curious as to how much more he might be able to find out.

"Your biggest suffering is the internal conflict you face as your need for companionship battles against your stubborn pride and wilful independence. You're afraid of being tied to anyone but you're outright terrified of the prospect of spending the rest of your life alone and misunderstood. You long to get close and to have others close to you, but any time you near that desired state, you push people away in panic. Maybe it's because you're afraid of appearing weak, afraid of opening up too much in case you are ridiculed for it. Or maybe you find it easier to push people away before they abandon you, just like those you cared about did early in your life."

Hiei wondered if the rules on demons killing humans had temporarily been waived in light of the Dark Age and if he would be able to avoid a lecture from Koenma if he just killed Shogo then and there.

"Hey there, what's going on in here?"

Hiei moved his eyes to the woman who had joined them in the hallway. Her presence was, to him, insignificant: he had no grudge against her, but if she got in his way when he tried to deal with Shogo, she too would be slaughtered.

"I was just reading Hiei's palm," Shogo said to her.

She smiled at him in a way that made Hiei want to vomit.

"I'm surprised you managed to find someone to let you do that," she said, before turning to Hiei. "My husband likes to demonstrate his little skill. And, to be fair, he's usually pretty accurate. Did he hit the mark this time?"

Hiei did not especially appreciate the way the woman had spoken to him, but seeing her face reminded him that she and her miserable husband were the parents of Fubuki, and he suspected that Kurama might not be very happy if he killed the girl's parents, and so he simply snatched back his hand and began covering it over with his bandaging again. He gave Shogo one last glower before turning and walking away. He tried to put what he had heard out of his mind, tried not to dwell on how irritating it was that such a human had been granted a place in the safe house when Koenma had refused Hiei's request to grant a place to Botan, who was at least useful and – surprisingly – far less irritating.

Hiei eventually found himself in the kitchen, where Kurama's mother was fussing about cleaning up the countertops. He ignored her and opened the fridge door, leaning into it to check for any traces of anything worth eating, all the while wondering why Shogo, his wife and Kurama's mother were still awake and on the move at a time when all of the others in the house had apparently gone to bed for the night.

"Would you like me to make you a snack, Hiei?"

Hiei grimaced into the fridge at the sound of Shiori's voice. He had almost forgotten that she knew him by name and he was even more surprised that she could remember him, as it had been several years since he had seen her last, and as she had aged during that time, he barely recognised her.

"Oh dear, would you like me get you a fresh dressing for that wound?"

Hiei paused, his eyes resting on a bowl of something gelatinous that may have been some kind of pudding.

"You've bled right through that dressing."

Hiei slowly leaned back out of the fridge and looked over at Shiori, who was standing facing him with a look of genuine concern on her face.

"Your hand," she said, pointing a finger at his left hand, which was still resting on the fridge door handle. "You're still bleeding. Let me reapply a more effective dressing for you."

Hiei wanted to tell her that she was talking nonsense, but she looked and sounded so convinced that he found his eyes wandering down to his hand, and he actually made a small grunt of surprise when he saw the blossoming red stain on the bandages around his hand just at the base of his thumb. He released the fridge door, which slowly swung shut, and turned his hand over, finding a fat, blotted red line across the bandages covering his palm. He began unwrapping the bandaging again, silently wondering when he had suffered an injury and why he had not noticed it minutes earlier when he had shown his palm to Shogo.

"It looks like a paper cut," Shiori commented as Hiei revealed a long, thin laceration that ran from the base of his thumb across his palm to the base of his pinky finger.

The cut was so thin it was almost invisible, noticeable only because the edges were bubbling with droplets of fresh blood. Whatever had caused the wound had been very sharp and very thin and it had struck with quickly and intensely to cut so deeply and yet so cleanly.

"It's quite deep – maybe it was a cardboard cut," Shiori said. "Did you catch it against one of the photographs in the hall?"

Hiei held back telling her how absurd her suggestion was: but he was left wondering if he had suffered the wound when he had snatched his hand away from Shogo or if it had happened before then, and only in that moment had it started to bleed in earnest after he had opened the bandaging around his hand.

It looked as though he had been cut by the sort of sharp, thin knife a ninja would keep concealed in their sleeves.

He wondered when Akira had managed to cut him without his noticing.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** Botan has her most dramatic encounter with Saito yet that ends disastrously. Yusuke and Kuwabara discuss Akira's other form and when Yusuke doesn't get a satisfactory answer, he call Koenma for more information. And Botan finds herself face-to-face and toe-to-toe with the Dark Force. **Chapter 28 – In Law**


	28. In Law

**Chapter 28 – In Law**

Botan knew that it was always a bad idea to sneak around any part of Spirit World – even the parts she was permitted access to – and that it was an especially bad idea to sneak around in a highly restricted access part of Spirit World: but Koenma was still insisting that everything was in hand, that the Dark Force was still contained in Demon World, and that the SDF were successfully defending the border between Spirit World and Demon World. Botan wanted to believe that he was telling the truth, and she told herself that perhaps he thought he was being truthful, as he was surely ignorant of the facts. Several ferry girls had gone missing and, at any one time, Botan could travel around the open areas of Spirit World and locate at least five of the remaining SDF officers. They never looked like they were on a rest from working a shift defending the border and there was no sense of urgency or concern in Spirit World in general, despite the spate of attacks the living world had suffered and the fact that Demon World was in a state of utter chaos, and none of that sat well with Botan. She felt as though the Dark Force would arrive at any moment, and when it did, it would obliterate and dominate Spirit World in a matter of days before moving on to the living world, where it would indiscriminately slaughter en masse and emotionally torture her friends and force her daughter to fight.

And so, despite feeling wary about her actions, Botan justified in her own mind her choice to sneak through a set of double doors and down a long glass corridor into the building that adjoined King Enma's temple that was both the living and training quarters for the SDF.

She had never ventured into the temple annex before and, despite her natural curiosity usually dictating otherwise, she had never even so much as tried to imagine what it might be like. Despite that, when she finally stepped into the reception area of the annex, she was not really surprised by what she saw. The walls and floors were decorated the same way they were in the main temple, with the only deviation being some framed portraits of previous SDF officers and mission statements. There was nobody present and she could not hear or sense anyone nearby, and so she pressed on, tip-toeing up a spiral staircase to the upper level, which led her to a long, quite dark hallway. Not wishing to turn on any lights and unintentionally draw attention to herself, Botan opted to go through the nearest door, stepping into the room beyond before realising exactly where she was and hurriedly leaping back out of the room.

Botan paused, her eyes wide and her arms twisted into a frozen position of panic, before telling herself that she had to expect to come across such rooms during her search, and reassuring herself that she was still alone, she had not been caught, and it was safe for her to continue. She then took a deep breath and stepped forwards again, taking herself back into the bedroom.

Again, although she had not thought about what the SDF's quarters might look like, she had somehow imagined them each sharing a bedroom with at least one other officer, and possibly sleeping in bunk-beds: but the room she found herself in looked more like the sort of bedroom she imagined Koenma might have. It was a large room – easily bigger than the canteen the ferry girls gathered in for their tea breaks – and the bed was both enormous and luxurious. Thanks to the extensive wardrobes, there were few personal effects in plain sight to indicate whose room it might be. Not that it mattered, Botan thought dryly, as even the leader of the SDF, Captain Ootake, did not deserve such extravagant living arrangements. She continued further into the room, looking about herself as she went. She was not really sure what she expected to find, but she decided that, since she was there, she might as well get a full understanding of how King Enma's personal soldiers lived.

"Well, well, fancy finding you here."

Botan froze. Standing by the edge of the bed, she took a moment to curse herself for losing her concentration long enough for someone to sneak up on her and she cursed her luck that she had apparently chosen to wander into Saito's bedroom.

"Did you have a little change of heart, Botan?"

Botan looked over at the window at the other end of the room – it was an enormous, panoramic window complete with a bench running around it lined with velvet the same shade as the painstakingly hand-woven curtains – and she wondered if she could fly out of it before the SDF officer behind her could cross the room and catch her.

"You know there are subtler ways to let a man know you're interested than coming to his bedroom like this."

Botan spun around, gasping and struggling to maintain her composure when she found that Saito had closed the door and started towards her.

"You came to my bedroom just the other day!" she argued. "And I didn't come here for the reason you think I did!"

Saito smiled.

"Were you this subtle when you were in Demon World, flirting with Hiei?" he asked.

"I'm not flirting with you," Botan pointed out.

"You're not?" Saito asked, with what Botan was sure was a look of mockingly false surprise. "But you've come all this way and snuck into my bedroom – what else am I supposed to think?"

"I'm not flirting with you, Saito," Botan insisted.

"Okay then," he said, nodding his head.

He looked as though he finally understood and would give up the matter: but, just as Botan started to relax, he started again.

"I suppose if you were actually flirting – based on how your relationship with Hiei went – you would have snuck in here and laid yourself out in my bed naked, right?"

Botan tried to fight back her feelings of shame, but she felt her face growing warmer in spite of her efforts.

"Is that how you seduced Hiei?" Saito asked.

Somehow, during their conversation, he had edged closer to her, and, by the end of his question, he was standing close enough to her that she could have reached out and touched him (had she wanted to).

"What are you thinking about now?" he asked.

His voice had dropped into a purr that made Botan feel queasy to listen to. She wanted to shout at him or to shout for help, but her mind was stuck on the honest answer to his last question: realistically, the only thing she was thinking about was that she wished one of her more powerful friends were present to smack Saito in a way that would actually hurt him, as she did not have the strength or speed to achieve that herself.

"Did you want me to catch you in here?" he asked. "Do you like being the bad girl? Does this situation turn you on?"

Botan gasped and ducked out of the way as Saito made to close the gap between them. She started to tell him that he had to stop, that he had got completely the wrong idea: but he did not let her finish before reaching for her again. She yelped and scrambled onto the bed, running across the mattress and leaping off the other side. Saito cleared the bed in one leap and was almost upon her, leaving her with only one option to escape him: she dived through a doorway in the back corner of the room and spun around to close the door between them. She was inside his private bathroom and, in a moment of flabbergasted weakness, she hesitated to gape at the sheer scope of the room before starting her efforts to push the door closed: and so her efforts were halted when Saito managed to wedge his foot between the door and the frame. She pressed herself against the door and pushed with all her might, but he easily shouldered it opened again and entered the room, grinning at her in a way that made him far more fearsome to her than any demon had ever been.

But thankfully, the moment was short-lived, as Saito's darkened grin instantly changed into a look of paled terror, his eyes suddenly refocused onto something behind Botan. Had his face not been so contorted in terror, she would not have turned as she would have feared that he was bluffing: but he appeared genuine, and when she turned around, she saw that he had good reason to.

The bath was partially filled with blood and viscera of unknown origin and some of the gory bath contents had been smeared onto the tiled wall behind the bath. After her initial shock had passed, Botan realised that she was looking at a passage of some sort of riddle, written in blood and appended with a strange little symbol.

"He ran in shadows on four feet so long," Botan whispered aloud. "Stepping into the light now on just two feet, to cast aside the binding ties of old, and be born again as he was before."

The blood filled bath and nonsensical riddle made for quite a jarring experience, especially finding them in the private bathroom of an officer of the SDF, and it left Botan quite rattled. Botan turned around to ask Saito how it could have happened: but her breath caught in her throat.

"Wh-what is that?" she whimpered.

"It's a message from the Dark Force," Saito replied. "I hear it's been leaving them in Demon World and even in the living world."

"N-no," Botan said hoarsely, shaking her head and taking a step back, whining when her ankle collided with the bath and she realised that she was trapped. "Wh-what is that th-thing?"

She managed to point a quivering finger at what she was staring at and Saito turned around, leaping back a step as he too sighted the hairless, fanged, vascular monster standing on four legs in the doorway of the room, watching them through pinpricked pupils set into sharp yellow irises.

"Stay back," Saito warned Botan.

Botan, who had already conjured her oar and was debating in her mind whether she ought to attempt to fly out the door over the creature's head or if she could manage to squeeze herself out of the long, narrow bathroom window, nodded her agreement: she was perfectly happy to let Saito take care of whatever the creature was.

"I've heard of these beasts," he said. "They're from Demon World. They call them "hellhounds"."

Botan did not really think that the hunchbacked creature looked anything like a hound – if anything, it looked more like a warthog missing its tusks – but she was not about to argue as he started towards the demon creature in an apparent attempt to wrestle it to the ground. Botan awkwardly arranged her oar behind her legs and sat down before quickly raising herself up until her head was pressed against the roof. Saito lunged at the hellhound and it began viciously assaulting him: and Botan then did not hesitate to rocket out the vacated doorway. Once she was back into the bedroom she turned to the window, fumbled with the catch with sweating, shivering hands before finally kicking the window open and tumbling out of it. She rolled over herself a few times before correcting her flight path and arcing around the annex: but she almost lost control of her oar again when she spotted a small pack of the hairless beasts swarming by the side entrance to the SDF's home and headquarters. She made to turn further and head back to the temple itself to report the matter to Koenma, but suddenly found herself unable to steer. She focused more spirit energy into her oar and redoubled her efforts to turn, but still found herself stalled.

It was then that Botan noticed there was a shadow over one of her legs.

She slowly turned her head towards the blade of her oar, her face twisting fearfully as she noticed a pair of feet there. She lifted her head and saw a familiar face that, at first, made her sigh in relief.

"Remember me, Botan?"

She nodded, touching a hand to her chest in relief.

"Oh Jin, thank goodness you're here!" she said. "Things are starting to get out of control, but I feel so much better knowing that you're here!"

Jin smiled at her in a slightly odd way.

"Don't worry Botan," he said gently. "I'm here to make sure you're delivered safely to exactly where you need to be right now."

Botan nodded, though she did think his choice of words was rather odd.

* * *

Yusuke swung his legs idly over the edge of the roof as he surveyed the gardens below. Keiko was feeding Puu, Shizuru and Kuroko were sitting under the shade of a tree sharing a bottle of sake, Shiori was patiently listening to Kaisei lecture her on something, Kurama and Fubuki were sharing a picnic in a secluded corner of the garden and Hiei and Akira were sitting in exactly the same position high on a tree branch: albeit it at opposite ends of the garden from each other.

"So you got married, huh?" Yusuke said.

"Yeah, I did," Kuwabara replied.

He was sitting next to Yusuke, his legs crossed close to the edge of the roof, and his hands scratching at a cat laid out on its back across his thighs.

"And how's that working out for you?" Yusuke asked. "Is it… Is it good?"

"Yeah, it is," Kuwabara replied.

They both turned to each other at the same time and Kuwabara gave a small smile.

"You should try it some time, Urameshi," he said.

"Ha, I'm not really the "solemnly sworn and committed" type!" Yusuke replied. "And you know that as well as Keiko or anyone else around here."

They both turned to look out across the garden again.

"I guess a lot happened when I was gone, huh?" Yusuke commented.

"Just a bit, yeah," Kuwabara replied with a hint of sarcasm.

"Like you married Yukina," Yusuke said.

"I did tell your mom you were invited, but you didn't come back to visit between us setting the date and then the actual day," Kuwabara replied.

"Keiko finished school and got her teaching degree and got a job and an apartment," Yusuke continued.

"We all grew up and moved on, Urameshi. It doesn't mean we ever forgot each other or anything we did together though."

"Kurama didn't really change, and Hiei maybe went backwards a little bit."

"Yeah…"

"Botan and Koenma are still the same – except sometimes Botan gets really emotional, like she's bi-polar… Hmm, when I think about it, maybe she was always a bit like that…"

"Botan's been through a lot."

"And now there's Akira too."

"Akira's a great kid."

"She's a bit weird. But I guess you did a good job with her."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. When she transforms, she can really move."

Yusuke narrowed his eyes slightly as he saw Fubuki lean into Kurama as though she was about to kiss him on the neck, altering the angle of her head at the last possible second to whisper something into his ear that made him smile and shake his head.

"Gees, look at fox boy flirting with Fubuki," he commented. "I still remember her as preppy kid who got drunk on brandy-flavoured candies…"

"What?"

"Oh, when I went to meet Kuroko for the first time, she gave Kaisei and Fubuki these brandy-flavour sweets, and they both start acting drunk."

"How do you know that?"

"I was there."

"You were there? But… When was… How…?"

Yusuke turned his head towards Kuwabara.

"Weren't you listening?" he asked. "I said it was when I went to meet Kuroko. Back after we beat Sensui, however many years ago that was – obviously it was a long time ago, because Fubuki wasn't even in a training bra back then, and holy crap look at her now!"

Yusuke was grinning but Kuwabara was giving him such a dark look, he quickly sobered.

"What's eating you?" he asked.

"You said you saw Akira transform," Kuwabara replied in a low voice. "That's only ever happened twice. You shouldn't even know about it and no way did you actually see it."

Yusuke faltered slightly as he remembered how panicked Akira had been when she had reawoken as her usual self and begged him not to tell anyone that she had changed or that she had fought him without the collar Spirit World made her wear.

"Hey, look, I know what's really going on here," he said. "I know why she has to wear that dumb collar. I've been there, I know how Spirit World freak out when they meet someone stronger than their lousy SDF pricks. But, you know, it's really stupid to leave her wearing that collar. She should take it off and learn how to get control over her powers so that she can actually fight when we need her to."

"How did you find out she can transform?" Kuwabara asked.

"Doesn't matter," Yusuke said, shaking his head. "The point is, I know she can, and I know she can't control it."

"But you saw it?"

"Did I say that?"

"Yes, you did."

Yusuke swallowed carefully before slowly nodding his head.

"Uh, yeah, I did see it," he admitted. "But that's okay, right? You're not pissed off that I saw your kid do that, are you?"

Kuwabara shook his head.

"It's just that… I didn't think she'd ever be able to do it again," he said quietly. "I guess I always wondered… What does she look like after she – um – you know – after she changes?"

"She looks like someone we actually want to have on our team," Yusuke replied.

Kuwabara made a strange noise.

"What?" Yusuke asked him.

"Oh, nothing," Kuwabara muttered.

"Don't hide anything from me," Yusuke warned him. "After what I went through in Demon World, I'm really not in the mood for people hiding things from me."

"It's just that it's really dangerous to let Akira transform," Kuwabara replied. "She's got no control over anything she does when she changes."

"Yeah, she said she couldn't remember it after she changed back, but she was pretty in control while she was fighting me," Yusuke said.

"She's a lot stronger and totally ruthless when she changes – or that's what Koenma told me, anyway."

"Yeah, that's true, she's stronger and she fights a lot harder – kinda like she did against Hiei in Tokyo, only she's actually strong enough to back up what she was trying to do back then."

Kuwabara made the same strange noise again – a sort of humming, grunting sound that came from the very back of his throat – and turned his head slightly.

"What are you not telling me, Kuwabara?" Yusuke asked, his patience starting to wane.

"You didn't always tell me everything when you were spirit detective…" Kuwabara muttered.

"Kuwabara!" Yusuke snapped.

"It's nothing anyway," Kuwabara replied.

Yusuke thought that he could push the matter further, but he knew that, once he had made a promise, Kuwabara could never be convinced to break it: and he had clearly promised not to reveal whatever it was that he was concealing. And so Yusuke leapt from the roof and casually walked around to the other side of the temple, away from Kuwabara and the others, and took out his communication mirror to call someone who he knew he could convince to give him truthful answers to his questions.

* * *

Koenma, who had been busy poring over written reports about the events of the previous Dark Age, sighed when a flashing red light and dull drilling sound alerted him to an incoming call. He pressed the button on his desk with one hand, his other hand still holding up his chin, and lifted his eyes to the large screen facing him, mostly expecting to see one of his ferry girls or an ogre: and so when Yusuke's irritated face appeared before him, he yelped and sat up straight.

"Hey, didn't interrupt your nap time, did I Koenma?" Yusuke asked him in his usual droll manner.

"I was working, Yusuke," Koenma flatly replied. "To what do I owe the honour of a call from you?"

"It's just a small thing," Yusuke said.

Something about the slightly exaggerated tone Yusuke had used pre-warned Koenma that what he was about to ask about was anything but a "small thing".

"Actually, it's about five feet tall and eighty pounds," Yusuke continued. "Or at least, that's how small it is as long as it's wearing one of your magic collars."

Koenma stiffened slightly, but made a conscious effort to keep his face impassive: though he was wondering how and when Yusuke had found out that Akira had a hidden ability to change forms.

"You know I don't like it when you keep secrets from me," Yusuke pressed. "How long have we known each other now? You think I can't tell by now when you're sitting there squirming in your little throne hoping I won't figure you out?"

Koenma fought to keep calm: he knew that Yusuke was only teasing, but equally he knew that the mazoku was deliberately pushing all the buttons he knew he needed to in order to get a response. For Yusuke's own safety as well as Akira's sanity, there was no possible way Koenma could tell Yusuke the truth. It was a contentious enough issue even if they were not in the midst of a Dark Age, but the potential for complications that lay ahead of them only made the matter all the more dire.

"I assume you are talking about Akira?" he began carefully.

"Yes," Yusuke replied.

"I would just like to remind you that Akira was screened – the same as the rest of you were – prior to joining the team, and that the decision was made to let Akira fight with you," Koenma said.

"Well you must have taken a page out of my book when you made that decision, because you half-assed it."

Yusuke had spoken so slowly and deliberately he was reaching new levels of sarcasm by even his own previous high standards.

"I understand that Akira is often unwilling to fight," Koenma said, hoping to steer the conversation in a different direction. "But I hope you can work together as a team and overcome that."

"Yeah, with that tacky little fashion accessory around her neck, Akira isn't exactly volunteering to take the lead in a battle," Yusuke replied. "But Kurama told me that collar makes her weaker. And I have it on good authority that she's way, way stronger and a way, way better fighter without it. So I guess my question would be why is she wearing it and why can't we take it off?"

"Akira has many well-honed skills," Koenma carefully replied. "And she is perfectly capable of exercising them with the collar on. Without the collar she may be able to access more of her natural talents, but, unfortunately, she isn't capable of using those talents effectively. If this Dark Age had started when it was scheduled to, Akira could have been a very useful ally fighting at the limits of her abilities: but she's still very young and she hasn't had enough time to master some of the talents she has. What we need at a time like this is a reliable and effective weapon we can use against the enemy, not a volatile, uncontrollable and unpredictable one."

Yusuke was quiet for so long that Koenma thought perhaps there was a technical difficulty with the communicator, as he was not even blinking.

"I know what you're thinking," Koenma tried.

When Yusuke blinked, Koenma continued.

"But you have to trust me on this," he said. "It's better for everyone concerned if we do things this way."

"No," Yusuke said slowly, his eyes narrowing slightly. "I don't really care about that. I was thinking that it sounded like you just called that kid a weapon."

Koenma realised almost immediately that what Yusuke was saying was correct: he had referred to Akira as a weapon. It had not been (entirely) intentional, but sometimes, when he thought about what Akira was capable of, it was difficult to see that side of her as anything other than a weapon – a very powerful and unpredictable one. Akira had always been on Koenma's radar as someone who would end up as a warrior – despite her earlier preference for hunting butterflies and exploring beaches – and her evolution from a relatively powerless little girl into a ninja capable of wielding both spirit and demon energy in battle had been gradual. However, she had evolved beyond just that, into something else entirely, and that stage of her evolution had not been gradual: in the blink of an eye, in a moment where she thought her mother was about to be erased from existence courtesy of the Dragon of the Darkness Flame, Akira had leapt ahead of herself in every sense. What she had become that day on High Road was not only something other than herself but it was also something that was virtually incapable of reason or compassion. Koenma still did not really know or understand how it was that the SDF had managed to sedate her and bring her back to Spirit World, since it had hardly been an easy task to bring her back around when she had transformed before Koenma's eyes the day her sensei, Master Ken, had tried – and succeeded – to provoke the transformation in her.

"Yusuke, it's a very complicated matter," Koenma recovered. "I'm afraid you just have to trust me on this. Though for the record, I'm curious to know how it is that you found out that removing the collar from Akira allows her to transform?"

"Kuwabara told me," Yusuke replied without hesitation. "And I said we should let her transform all the time if that's true, but he doesn't seem to want to let her. I think he's letting his feelings get in the way – like he does sometimes – and that he's scared to let his daughter let loose and fight the Dark Force head-on with the rest of us because he's scared she'll get hurt."

Koenma nodded slowly. Yusuke apparently thought that Akira was Kuwabara daughter, and he was not about to correct him on that assumption. He still thought it a little odd that Yusuke and Kurama had not found out about Akira before the start of the Dark Age: after all, Botan had always brought her daughter to gatherings at Genkai's temple and Hiei had been aware that he was Akira's father since the second Demon World Tournament. Of course Kuwabara had said at the time that Hiei was denying Akira because he was ashamed of her, and, although Koenma had not wanted to believe that, it did now appear to be true. Not only had Hiei never even so much as attempted to have any contact with Akira but he had never asked after her when he met Koenma and George at the subsequent Demon World Tournaments, he had shown no interest in her whereabouts when it came time to nominating someone he wished to remain in the safe house and he had tried to kill her the day Botan had taken her to Demon World to meet him.

Koenma could justify Hiei ignoring Akira all her life – it was little different to how he had handled his relationship with Yukina, after all – but he had never quite understood why Hiei had tried to kill Akira the day he encountered her on High Road. Koenma had thought that, on some level at least, Hiei cared for the daughter he barely knew and that he would have protected her life rather than try to take it under such circumstances.

"Kuwabara and Akira are very close," he admitted to Yusuke.

He had always thought that it was just as well that Kuwabara was close to Akira, since the absence of her father had – increasingly so with time – had an adverse effect on her opinion of men in general. She often seemed blinkered to the fact that two of the SDF officers were female, and directed the bulk of her hatred towards the male troopers. And even before her fateful encounter with Hiei in Demon World, she had always preferred to spend her time with the ferry girls, and had even obviously performed better in her lessons with Master Ken when her mother or one of the other ferry girls had been present. She was generally quite singular and meek, but, on occasion and when motivated, Akira could be quite bold and had no difficulty showcasing her talents: and what she had become after her encounter with Hiei was just an extreme example of that side of her. As long as she wore the collar, she was incapable of accessing the deepest depths of the well of power she hid within herself, and she remained singular and meek.

It was not that Koenma never intended to remove the collar from Akira during the Dark Age, it was more that he only intended to authorise its removal if the situation become so dire that an unstable ally would be more effective than a weak one.

"Right, and that's cute, but I've watched four of my friends die fighting this thing already, the last thing I need is you holding back someone who could actually stand up to this dirty bastard we're fighting," Yusuke said.

"The situation is, thankfully, under control at the moment," Koenma assured him. "The Dark Force has been successfully contained in Demon World and we believe we can hold it there long enough to push it back and end this chaos. I don't think you'll have to worry about needing Akira to fight harder, the way things are proceeding, I doubt the Dark Force will make it out of Demon World, far less through Spirit World and into the living world."

"The words "tunnel to Demon World" spring to mind when you say that…"

Koenma groaned.

"Goodbye Yusuke," he grumbled, before terminating the link.

Perhaps Yusuke was right – perhaps Spirit World had vastly underestimated the situation with Sensui and the tunnel to Demon World – but this time Koenma was confident that he had all the facts before him: and the facts all pointed to the Dark Age being fully under control and Spirit World being perfectly safe from attack.

* * *

"You'll have to keep moving, it's always so chaotic in here," Botan called over her shoulder, forcibly raising her voice in order to ensure her voice would carry back behind her.

Behind her, Jin was following her into the main entranceway of King Enma's temple, through crowds of ferry girls and ogres. Despite the fact that some ferry girls had gone missing and those that remained were working extended shifts to compensate and process the deaths already caused by the Dark Force, the temple was still full of bodies bustling about.

"This way leads to Lord Koenma's office – I'm sure he'll be glad to see you," she continued as she ducked under an ogre's arm and slunk around a ferry girl trying to untangle her oar from her hair. "He's very anxious to know how everything is proceeding, and I don't think Yusuke kept him reliably updated."

"It's not ideal that the team was split up over three worlds the way it was," Jin replied.

His voice sounded differently to how Botan remembered it to: but as she had not really spoken to him since the first Demon World Tournament, she supposed she was just remembering him incorrectly. Or perhaps he had changed his manner of speech gradually over the last fifteen years and he just sounded odd to her because it had been so long since she had last conversed with him.

"That was the way it had to be," she pointed out. "We needed fighters defending all three worlds."

"Yes, but the specific way the fighters were split into specific teams didn't really suit my agenda," Jin replied.

"Oh really?" Botan mused, touching a finger to her chin and adopting a pensive look. "Would you have preferred to be stationed as a defender of Spirit World or the living world?"

"I would have preferred to have all eight of you in one place and on one team: not that it won't eventually come down to just the eight of you anyway."

"The eight of us?"

Botan passed through a doorway before remembering that Jin, as a demon, would not be able to emulate her skill. She turned to open the door for him, gasping and frowning as he slipped through the door in the same way she just had. He noticed her questioning look and grinned.

"Isn't it incredible what one can be capable of when one really lets go and drills right down into the deepest depths of the well of one's true abilities," he said.

Botan nodded slowly.

"I had no idea non-spirits could pass through the walls and doors of this temple," she said. "I was just about to open the door for you."

"Not before I open a door for you, Botan."

Botan screwed up her face.

"That's very chivalrous of you, I suppose," she said slowly. "But as you just saw, I don't need anyone to open any doors for me – I can just pass through them."

Jin grinned in a toothy, slightly creepy way.

"I'm going to open a door for you Botan," he said. "And when I do, you'll step right through it, and on the other side, you'll find yourself capable of performing incredible deeds of strength. But it will all come at the cost of you having to face an incredible deed of courage."

"What does… What?"

Jin was starting to sound as though he was talking in riddles and it was too much for Botan, who was still reeling from her confrontation with Saito and the hellhound.

"Just tell me one thing before we go any further," Jin said, looking slightly more serious. "Where is the woman?"

Botan shook her head.

"What woman?" she asked.

"I have successfully located seven of the eight elements I require," Jin replied.

"Seven of the…? What are you-what are you talking about, Jin?"

"But the eighth element continues to elude me. I know I'm close. I just can't quite figure out where you're hiding her."

Botan shook her head again.

"I'm sorry, I don't know who you're talking about," she said.

Jin took a step closer to her and she started to think that his voice and his newfound ability to walk through the walls of King Enma's temple were not the only things that were drastically different about him.

"I think you do know who I'm talking about," he said. "Because you're one of the few souls I know for sure has actually seen her."

Botan could not stop her face from falling as she finally understood Jin's words and why he looked and sounded slightly odd: and the sound of snarling and screaming on the other side of the door she had just passed through as more hellhounds tore through the corridors of King Enma's temple only further confirmed it.

Jin was a victim of the Dark Force, and his presence in Spirit World marked the beginning of stage three of the Dark Age.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** Sarayashiki is under attack and the LW team move out to deal with the problem, but their efforts are hindered by in-fighting from all angles, not helped in the least when Yusuke tells Kaisei that Akira is in fact a girl and then goes on to try to provoke her into transforming, inadvertently telling her something she had never known before about her beloved Uncle Kazuma. Meanwhile in Spirit World, Dark Force controlled Jin starts feeding off of Botan as he interrogates her regarding the missing eighth element. **Chapter 29 – Closing In**


	29. Closing In

**Chapter 29 – Closing In**

Kurama sighed involuntarily as he caught sight of a frantic ferry girl spiralling through the air towards him. It was yet another pleasant summer evening, but he had a feeling it was about to turn into something dark and desperate. The ferry girl eventually landed in an ungracious heap at his feet and he graciously offer her his hand, helping her back to her feet. Her hair was loose and wild, her clothing was dishevelled and she looked borderline hysterical.

"I came here as quickly as I could!" she cried.

"I appreciate that," Kurama calmly answered her. "What do you have to report?"

She righted herself on her feet and attempted to steady her breathing before answering.

"I was just on my way out to start my shift," she said. "And there's something enormous in the city!"

"Which city?" Kurama asked.

"The nearest one, Sarayashiki city!"

Kurama's first thought was that he was relieved that everyone had been brought to the safe house before a serious attack hit their hometown: and his second thought was that news of the attack was bound to cause unrest in the safe house.

"It's a giant centipede demon," the ferry girl continued. "And there is a group of smaller beetle demons running with it. You have to get there fast!"

"Yes, of course," Kurama replied. "You should return to Spirit World immediately and report this to Koenma."

She nodded and clumsily sat back onto her oar to take off again. Her exit was as graceless as her entrance, but Kurama was confident that she would be safe when she got back to Spirit World, and so he turned and ran back to the house, hurrying inside and calling all the others into the living room. They all gathered with an air of suspecting that he was calling them for another drill or disaster simulation, which only made breaking the news all the more difficult.

"I was on guard duty, but I would prefer to go on this mission," he said once he had told everyone what had happened.

"That's fine with me," Yusuke said, standing up. "The four of us should go – the old team – and the others can stay back here and keep an eye on things for us."

Kuwabara stood up and Hiei – who was already standing by the door – straightened and took a side-step closer to the door.

"Only one of us needs to stay here," Fubuki argued.

"Yeah, that's right," Kaisei agreed. "Take me and my sister with you. Akira can look after things here."

Yusuke gave him a long, withering look before looking over at Fubuki and then finally at Akira.

"You know, you could just all go," Kuroko suggested.

"Huh?" Yusuke grunted, turning to her.

"I am a former spirit detective and I can still hold my own against even a B-class demon," she reminded him. "And I know Yukina is capable of some decent defensive and healing magic. Between the two of us we could defend everyone here if we had to – though I don't exactly think Shizuru or Keiko are entirely helpless either."

"What's going on?" Shiori asked. "What are you all talking about?"

Kurama touched a hand to her shoulder.

"There's been some trouble in the city," he said gently. "My friends and I are going to see if we can lend a hand in helping any victims in any way we can."

"I have basic first aid training," she replied.

"You should stay here," he insisted.

"I should call Kazuya."

Kurama silently hoped that whatever was in Sarayashiki had not yet reached his neighbourhood or his stepfather or stepbrother: but he did not have the time to waste fretting over his mother potentially making a call that would not be answered.

"Let's go," he said to Yusuke.

"Right, but let's take the girl," Yusuke replied.

"Hey, if you're taking my sister, you're taking me too!" Kaisei argued.

"Take everybody," Kuroko insisted. "I can handle things here."

"Okay, let's all eight of us go," Yusuke said.

"Don't you mean seven of us?" Kuwabara asked.

Yusuke took a moment to count his way around the active fighters before conceding that Kuwabara was correct.

"Are you sure you can manage?" Kurama asked Kuroko.

"She'll be fine," Fubuki replied. "If anything goes wrong mom, call us on Yukina's communicator."

Kuroko nodded and Yusuke shrugged.

"Let's go," he said.

Kurama could see that Kuwabara was as reluctant as he was with the situation, but they all left regardless.

"I'm just as strong as my sister, you know," Kaisei moaned to Yusuke as they exited the temple.

"I wasn't talking about your sister, numb nuts," Yusuke replied. "I was talking about Akira."

Kaisei gave him an odd look before looking back at Akira, who was doing her best to keep her head down and her face hidden from view.

"What are you talking about man?" Kaisei asked Yusuke. "Akira's a boy!"

Yusuke looked as though he was about to correct Kaisei, but a sudden change in his demeanour and a distinct twinkle appearing in his eyes told Kurama that Kaisei was about to become the latest victim of Yusuke's jocular ways.

"Oh yeah, sure, you can really tell she's a boy," Yusuke said.

"That's not funny," Kaisei replied. "Akira is a boy. Sure he likes butterflies and hairclips and he finds it easier talking to girls than boys and he has small hands and…"

Kaisei turned and purposefully eyed Akira over as Akira continued pretending not to see or hear him.

"I don't get it," he concluded, turning back to Yusuke. "When did that happen?"

Yusuke laughed out loud and left Kaisei's question hanging: though thankfully the moment did not last long as Puu landed by Yusuke, ready to take him onwards. Kurama quickly looked around the others before coming to the reluctant conclusion that it would be more sensible to split the group up. As though on instinct, Yusuke and Hiei both hopped onto Puu without hesitation, and Kuwabara made to follow them, only pausing when Kaisei made a noise of dissatisfaction, apparently remembering that Puu could only practically carry four passengers.

"It probably makes more sense for us to approach this in two groups," Kurama announced. "Kaisei, take Fubuki and Akira in the car, I will go with Yusuke, Hiei and Kuwabara on Puu. I don't think any of us will have any difficulty locating the disturbance, we can meet up there."

Kaisei looked over at Akira warily and Kuwabara started to offer to switch places with him, but Kurama quickly cut him off.

"Let's not waste time debating minor details," he warned.

Kaisei gave a reluctant nod of his head and started towards the car, followed by Fubuki and Akira and Kurama jumped up onto Puu's back. Kuwabara followed him a little slowly, and, as soon as he was settled, Puu took to the air.

"Look at this, the old team together again," Yusuke commented. "Running around trying to fix a situation Spirit World underestimated again. It's just like old times."

"Yes, nothing has changed," Hiei agreed.

Kurama could not stop his eyebrows from rising in surprise at Hiei's choice of words.

"Speak for yourself, shorty," Kuwabara muttered.

"Yeah Hiei, I've changed," Yusuke added. "I'm a lot stronger now."

"I think we all are," Kurama agreed.

"No," Hiei said. "Yusuke and I are stronger, Kurama is about the same and…"

He turned his head fully towards Kuwabara and raked disapproving eyes over the redhead's form.

"Don't even start that with me, Hiei," Kuwabara warned him in a low voice. "You don't know what I've done during the last fourteen years any more than I know where you've been all that time."

Yusuke looked a little confused and began thinking out loud that, even with his terrible ability to count back through time, he was sure it had been longer than fourteen years since all four of them had last worked as a team to address a matter raised by Spirit World, but Kurama knew that Kuwabara had not been referring to quite the same matter when he had answered Hiei. And, in that moment, Kurama also realised that Yusuke was the only one of the old team who was entirely oblivious to why there would be any additional animosity between Hiei and Kuwabara. Knowing how close Kuwabara was to Hiei's daughter – and seeing how disgusted Hiei was with her in general – Kurama could not help but think that the whole situation was bound to erupt at some point, and, if not handled carefully, it would end up becoming a major divide between the team and a major opening for the enemy to exploit.

"We should consider this latest incident as a sign that we are needed in this world for now," he said in an attempt to bring the conversation back to the current issue. "I doubt we will be sitting idle this coming week, even if the resistance in Spirit World and Demon World can get matters under control."

"I seriously don't think Spirit World can handle this one," Yusuke replied. "The SDF don't respond well to something new or something they haven't trained for, and the Dark Force isn't something anyone can predict. If it gets to Spirit World, Spirit World will fall in less time than it takes Kuwabara to get a joke."

"In that case they should manage to hold back the enemy for at least another week," Hiei muttered.

Kuwabara glared at him and again Kurama quickly spoke up to try to diffuse the tension.

"Maybe we could send some of our team to Spirit World to check on the situation," he suggested.

"Or we could just get Botan to tell us how it really is," Yusuke said with a shrug. "She's usually not quite as bad as Koenma for hiding information – in fact, knowing what a loudmouth she can be, we could probably get the truth out of her easy enough. We should call her when we get back."

"That's a good idea," Kurama said. "Perhaps we could arrange a call with Botan once a day."

"No."

Kurama knew that he ought to say something, but he was too surprised by Hiei's response and the strangely dark look on his face to respond. Kuwabara looked like he was ready to argue with Hiei and Yusuke looked like he was about to ask a question that probably nobody present would give a straight answer to, but still Kurama could not get through his shock to make himself say something – anything – to detract from Hiei's odd outburst.

"You cannot use Botan as a spy," Hiei continued.

"Why not?" Yusuke asked. "She's right there in Spirit World, and she's still ferrying dead people, so she knows where all the people are getting killed and she knows what's really going on in Spirit World. She could probably even get us information on what the SDF are actually doing to fight back the–"

"You can't ask Botan to spy on the SDF."

Kuwabara and Hiei both glared at each other after both inadvertently saying exactly the same thing at exactly the same time as each other.

"We don't need any additional drama, I agree," Kurama offered. "So let's make do with simply calling Botan–"

"No."

Kurama turned to Hiei, giving him the same questioning look Yusuke and Kuwabara had the first time he had refused the suggestion of scheduling daily calls to Botan.

"At this point in time, shouldn't she be in the safe house?" Hiei asked.

Kuwabara looked irate and Kurama was grateful when Yusuke spoke up, saving him the effort of thinking up and delivering yet another distracting statement.

"I guess it would be handy to have another healer in the house," he said. "And Botan's usually with us for something like this."

"Spirit World will fall and you can guarantee that the escape plan they will have made for such a time will only cover King Enma, Koenma and the SDF," Hiei replied. "Anyone else there will be left behind without a second thought."

"Would Koenma leave Botan behind?" Yusuke asked.

"Hiei may have a point, Yusuke," Kurama conceded. "Whether we – or Koenma – like it or not, there is a distinct hierarchy in Spirit World, and I don't imagine that ferry girls rank very highly on it: not even well-thought of and multi-skilled ferry girls like Botan."

"That's true," Kuwabara quietly agreed.

"Then you understand my point," Hiei said. "Eventually."

He aimed his last word at Kuwabara, but Kuwabara responded with nothing more than another glare.

"We can call her after we get done here," Yusuke suggested. "This doesn't look like it's gonna take too long to fix anyway."

Kurama peered over Puu's shoulder, looking down at the scene below them. There were obvious signs of panic in various parts of the city, but the bulk of the trouble was emanating from a large centipede demon that was clinging to the side of an office complex. Knowing how such demons could be – not ridiculously powerful but very slippery and tricky – Kurama took out his communication mirror and called Fubuki.

"Hey foxy," she said, smiling at him in a slightly insolent way. "I'm kinda busy trying to avert the apocalypse right now. Maybe you could ask me out on a date some other time?"

"Very funny," Kurama replied, smiling awkwardly as he noticed the way Yusuke was grinning at him from the corner of his eye. "We've located one large demon in the south side of the city, our group will tackle it directly. There are several other, lower level, demons running riot in the surrounding area: your team should tackle those. We expect to finish off the larger demon and we will then assist your team with rounding up and seeing off the remaining stragglers. Should that not be the case for any reason, make sure to take a prisoner."

Fubuki's face changed slightly.

"Take a prisoner?" she repeated, looking and sounding genuinely shocked.

"We need to assess why these attacks are happening and monitor them," Kurama explained. "We need to determine if we are dealing with rogue demons escaping to this world because they can, with the lack of the Border Patrol, if they are escaping here because the situation in Demon World is so desperate they have been driven out of their homes or if they are agents of the Dark Force. Obviously the first instance is the most ideal and the last option is the least ideal."

"So take a prisoner for interrogation?" Fubuki asked. "Can do."

Kurama nodded and closed the communicator. Hiei started to tell him that it was a waste of time to take any prisoners, but he stopped when Yusuke started talking.

"So you and the ex-spirit detective's kid: that's a real thing, huh?"

Kurama's face dropped as he slid the communicator back into his shirt pocket.

"Let's focus on the task ahead," he said.

"Okay, but after that, you gotta fill us all in the situation with you and Fubuki," Yusuke said.

Kurama shook his head.

"Come on fox boy," Yusuke pressed. "Fill us in on how you're filling her in–"

"Urameshi, give it a rest," Kuwabara groaned.

"Come on, you're not curious?" Yusuke asked him.

"I'm curious," Hiei said.

The others all turned to him in surprise.

"I'm curious to know why Kurama would want anything to do with a dithering, mouthy human woman," Hiei continued. "And I'm curious to know how he even found the time to entertain such foolishness while the rest of us were trying to stop the Dark Age."

Based on Hiei's sarcastic tone, Kurama had been prepared to issue him with a dismissive reply: but he changed his mind when he saw the way the emiko glared at him upon his last remark. He decided to say no more – and as Puu was descending to the roof of a building nearby the giant centipede demon, he was mostly saved the bother of having to give a response or make any excuses for the time being.

* * *

"You heard the boss: we have to take a prisoner."

Fubuki snapped shut her communication mirror and replaced it to her pocket, and the car once more fell into silence. Kurama's call had been quite a welcome distraction for Akira, as it had been the only time Kaisei had stopped glaring at her in the rearview mirror for longer than a few seconds. With the call over, he had resumed switching between glaring at her and checking on the road ahead. She supposed she had Yusuke to thank for the latest bout of animosity between herself and Kaisei – which, whilst frustrating, was also something of a relief, as in this instance, she did not have to feel guilty about having done something to make him so unpleasant towards her. Apparently Kaisei was as stupid as Yusuke was, because he too had genuinely believed that Akira was a boy: which she found incredibly insulting. And, the more she thought about it, the more it bothered her, as the whole subject of her identity sent her mind hurtling back through the darker memories she had of the last four years.

From the very beginning of her problems with the SDF, they had (with only three exceptions) referred to her as "it" and never as she (or even he). It had, with time, caused her to detach slightly from her identity as a girl, something that had only become worse when one particular SDF officer – one of the three who did actually identify her as a girl – had started asking her weird questions about her body. It had become easier to ignore her physical self in any sense than to try to fathom what was happening to her and the things Officer Saito said to her: though she had always thought it odd that, after two years of her mother and Koenma pressurising Captain Ootake and King Enma to allow her to transfer to the living world and train with Kuwabara, she was suddenly allowed to do just that after Captain Ootake walked in on Saito having one of his odd conversations with her.

"So I'll take the prisoner," Fubuki offered as Kaisei pulled over at the side of a street with a damaged car in the middle of the road and a few broken windows in some of the buildings. "Think you two can handle just taking out all the others? If we finish real quick, we could go join Kurama and the others rather than having them coming after us thinking we need their help, right?"

Kaisei got out the car and Akira copied his action, leaving Fubuki on her own in the front passenger seat. Akira heard her mutter something about how awkward the situation was before she too stepped out of the car.

"Okay, so shall we split up to do this?" she asked.

Kaisei turned around, looking suddenly focused and angry, and Akira tensed when his eyes landed on her.

"Exactly how long have you been a girl?" he demanded.

His tone was both too loud and too accusatory given the absurdity of his question, and hearing him voice it so brought out Akira's sarcastic streak: something she refused to accept was a trait she had inherited from her father.

"The same length of time you've been a tool: since the day I was born."

Kaisei narrowed his eyes before snorting in amusement.

"What does that mean?" he asked. "Are you saying I've been a "tool" since the day I was born or since the day you were born? Because I'm almost old enough to be your father over here, you know."

"Does it matter?" Akira replied. "Shouldn't you be showing a bit more humility for someone who is a tool?"

"Listen kid – and don't forget that's still what you are, whether you're male or female, you are still just a kid – I have been fighting demons three times as long as you have, and I never need to hop out of a battle because I want to cry about blood and I never get mood swings because I get hormonal at a certain time of the–"

Kaisei stopped abruptly, his face flickering through a variety of emotions.

"Choose your next words real carefully, big brother," Fubuki warned him. "Because if the next words out of your mouth include the letters P, M and S, I'll put your face through a wall."

Kaisei turned to her.

"So it's your turn this week, is it?" he asked. "I thought you women all synced up onto the same cycle when you lived together."

"Don't speak to her like that!" Akira protested. "You're just jealous of Fubuki because she has natural talent that you don't!"

Kaisei rounded on her and stomped up to her, puffing up his chest as though he thought she cared that he was a good eighteen inches taller than her and would be intimidated by a reminder of their size difference.

"Like I care what a whiny little girl like you thinks about anything," he sneered.

"You're only an effective fighter because you had a worthy teacher in your mother and then in Kazuma Kuwabara," Akira continued. "Without your training, you would be little stronger than any other human with above average spiritual awareness."

"For a little girl who usually never speaks, you've really got a big mouth sometimes," Kaisei growled.

"I don't care what you say, you're just lashing out at me because you're jealous of your sister," Akira plainly replied. "Because she's always been better than you."

"Would you stop that?" Fubuki interrupted them. "Kaisei, let it go, Akira's just mad because you were being an insensitive jerk and Akira you don't know what you're talking about: my brother has plenty of natural talent. Now both of you pull it together and let's all of us get to work before Kurama and Kuwabara find us out here bickering like this!"

Akira nodded in reluctant agreement, and, although Kaisei looked less than sure, he said no more. The three then moved out, shortly splitting apart from each other as necessity dictated as they began hunting down the stray insect demons causing havoc in the city streets. As she launched her first attack against one of the troublemakers, Akira fell the familiar stabbing feeling of the collar around her neck: and although it had once been something that had hurt her pride and ego far more than her physical being, it had become a sensation that she found reassuring. As long as she had the collar on, she was safe from becoming that thing again, safe from losing control and safe from hurting anyone.

And as long as she had the collar on, she was fulfilling her end of the agreement she and Botan had with Koenma, and Koenma had no excuse not to honour his part of the deal in return.

Thanks to Fubuki apparently trying to impress the others and working beyond even her own previous limits for impressive efficiency, the trio shortly rid the streets of stray demons, convening again within line of sight of the large centipede demon the other four had gone to fight. Fubuki had an unconscious, pointy-eared, hook-nosed little man with messy blonde hair slouched over one shoulder when she returned to the group, whom she casually flung into the trunk of the car before suggesting that they all check on how the others were progressing. Akira did think it odd that, in the time it had taken for her and the Sato siblings to complete their part of the mission, Kuwabara and the others had not managed to vanquish the one enemy they were all facing, but she ran alongside Fubuki and Kaisei – at what she thought was a frustratingly slow pace – towards the giant demon and kept her musings to herself.

As they drew nearer, it shortly became obvious why the centipede had not been halted, as it had somehow managed to capture Yusuke, Kuwabara and Hiei, and Kurama was struggling to stop its legs from grabbing onto him. Akira, Kaisei and Fubuki all stopped outwith the enemy's reach, each as confused as the other. Kurama shortly managed to retreat and join them.

"What was that you were saying before about giving us the "easy" mission because only you four were fit to handle this thing?" Kaisei asked the fox demon as he joined them.

Kurama gave him a harsh look before taking a step closer to Akira. She was so distracted by his uncharacteristically dishevelled appeared that he managed to snatch the collar from her before she even registered that he had been reaching for it.

"Hey!" she cried, touching one hand to her neck and reaching the other out towards him.

"There was a slight miscommunication between our group," he said, stuffing the collar into his pocket. "A slight error in judgment and momentary lapse in concentration led to the situation you now find us in."

"Hey!" Yusuke screamed down to them from his position held high in the air. "Stop talking and do something!"

"The centipede is trying to squeeze the air from their lungs and incapacitate them," Kurama advised.

"Doesn't sound like it's working against Yusuke…" Fubuki commented.

"Stay back, don't let it get anyone else!" Kuwabara shouted down.

"That's good advice, we should use ranged attacks," Kurama added.

"Hey Akira!"

Akira flinched as she heard her name echo off the walls around her, repeating Yusuke's ragged cry over and over.

"You could stop this thing!"

Kaisei glowered at Akira and Fubuki looked surprised.

"Don't listen to him," Kurama said to Akira. "We will combine our efforts and attack together."

"Transform and kill this thing already, Akira!" Yusuke yelled.

"Transform?" Kaisei echoed.

"Don't listen to him," Kurama insisted.

"If you won't transform and kill it, I'll make you transform and kill it!" Yusuke warned.

"What is he talking about?" Fubuki asked.

"The lack of oxygen to his brain is making him delirious," Kurama replied.

"Hey Kuwabara!" Yusuke called over to his friend. "Tell Akira about when you had a crush on Botan!"

Akira froze.

"Don't listen to him!" Kurama insisted, his voice gaining an edge of urgency.

"Tell her about what you used to call Botan, you know, back when you had the hots for her?" Yusuke shouted at Kuwabara.

Akira slowly turned to Kurama.

"Let's focus on the task at hand here," he said gently.

"Is it true?" she asked him. "What Mister Urameshi's saying, it is true?"

Kurama paused before answering, which was really all the answer Akira needed.

"Yusuke is oxygen-deprived, and–"

"Is it true?" Akira cut him off.

"It was a long time ago, Akira."

Akira looked up at Kuwabara, held in the air by two centipede legs – one wrapped around his torso, the other around his knees – and tried not to think too deeply about what Yusuke had just revealed: neither her mother nor Kuwabara had ever told her that they had ever been in a relationship before, but Kurama appeared to think that it was true, and she had no reason to disbelief anything he told her as he had always been quite honest with her and she trusted him to be truthful about such a matter. It would have been far easier for everyone involved for Kurama to have lied about it and the fact that he had not tried to deny it therefore only further proved it as fact.

It made for a horribly awkward situation though: her uncle and her mother as former lovers was not an image Akira needed in her mind.

"And as usual, when a time comes that the kid might actually be useful, she goes catatonic," Kaisei said sarcastically.

"Come on, we can handle this one," Fubuki said to him.

"Yeah let's go before the kid throws another tantrum," Kaisei groaned.

Akira heard what he was saying, but she was not really listening and she was beyond caring: the shocking information she had just found out was far more pressing than pretending to care about anything Kaisei had to say. As Akira stood watching Kuwabara, Kaisei and Fubuki began charging their energy to form their signature combined attack and Kurama called out a warning to Yusuke, Kuwabara and Hiei to be ready to jump clear when the attack hit. Kurama had presumably overestimated the siblings' abilities – or else underestimated the defences of the centipede demon – as when their attack hit the beast on its vulnerable underside, it winced and faltered, but neither fell nor released any of its three captives. However Yusuke, Kuwabara and Hiei had been alert, and all three reacted instantly in the creature's moment of weakness, managing to fight their way out of the creature's hold. Kuwabara dropped to the ground and Hiei followed, slicing off several of the creature's legs with his sword as he fell. Yusuke dropped onto a lower building nearby, landing facing the centipede and aimed a pointed finger at it. Akira was briefly distracted from her darker thoughts as Yusuke launched his signature attack, a single blast of incredible spirit energy, easily a hundred times more powerful than the attack Kaisei and Fubuki had taken several seconds to charge using both of their energy combined. Yusuke was able to access the energy needed almost instantly and his attack was swift and devastating, the backdraft from the blast sweeping across the street around the others, launching debris from the damaged buildings into the air. The centipede demon was reduced to a pile of dust within seconds, and Yusuke jumped down to join the others, looking perfectly relaxed despite having done something that ought to have left him significantly weakened.

"What the hell is your problem?" he snapped.

Akira flinched, at first thinking that he was addressing her. He frowned at her reaction and turned more fully towards her.

"I wasn't talking to you," he said gruffly. "Though for the record, you can't stand around like a wet turnip when there's a fight going on. If you're part of this team, you gotta get off you ass and do something when one of the bad guys is suffocating the life out of three of your team-mates!"

"I'm sorry," Akira replied.

"Don't be sorry, just don't do it again!" Yusuke snapped. "And you!"

He rounded on Hiei and Akira relaxed a little, glad to no longer be under the scrutiny of his irate eyes.

"Why didn't you take the shot when you had it?" he demanded.

"You're always telling me to consider innocent bystanders," Hiei replied. "If I had "taken the shot", I probably would have killed several humans."

"Right, and then when you didn't take the shot, that overgrown vermin killed several hundred humans when it crushed an entire apartment block full of people!" Yusuke argued back.

"Spirit World will come here and cause us all sorts of grief if we kill even one human accidentally," Hiei replied.

"Since when do you care what Spirit World think? Since when do you care about protecting human lives?"

"You're overreacting."

"You're underreacting! Damn it Hiei, you didn't hesitate to kill Rinku and you were okay leaving Chu and Touya behind, don't stand there and tell me you're holding back now because you're worried about someone else suffering!"

Kurama stepped forward and began trying to calm Yusuke down, though all he really seemed to succeed in doing was to draw Yusuke's ire towards himself. Amidst Yusuke's ranting, Akira was able to figure out that, at some point, when the team of four had been fighting the giant centipede demon, it had dropped to the ground and run off, and Yusuke had told Hiei to attack it with his Dragon of the Darkness Flame technique: which, Akira concluded, meant that Yusuke was unaware of the fact that Hiei no longer had mastery of that technique. It was possible that Hiei had managed to regain the dragon, but Akira suspected that the real reason he had not launched the attack when Yusuke had asked him to was because he was unable to: after all, Hiei had already demonstrated that he had never been hesitant to launch the attack in the past.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Akira looked up at Kuwabara, who was standing two steps away from her, watching her cautiously.

"You lied to me," she said.

She was not really sure how she had meant to answer him, though it had certainly not been to launch such an accusation: and yet, once the words had left her mouth, that was all her mind could focus on.

"I didn't lie to you," Kuwabara replied. "I just never told you about it."

"That's deceit," Akira pointed out.

"Yeah, right," Kuwabara agreed, looking slightly relieved. "I didn't lie to you, I just deceived you."

"It's the same thing," Akira argued. "It's lying and it's wrong!"

"Akira, it's not how you think it is."

Yusuke pulled his arm free of Kurama's attempt at a sympathetic touch and turned to Akira.

"Don't bother getting mad at Kuwabara!" he snapped.

"Urameshi, you gotta tell her it's not what she thinks it is!" Kuwabara insisted.

Yusuke glanced over Kuwabara, visibly calming as he did so.

"Fine," he said, turning back to Akira. "Your dad had a crush on Botan, but I don't think it actually went anywhere. Botan was too frigid and your dad got over her pretty damn quickly – so he probably never really liked her that way in the first place. Now they're just friends. There, happy now?"

Akira's mind was blank.

"Urameshi!" Kuwabara cried.

"What?" Yusuke responded. "I did exactly what you asked me to, what more do you want from me?"

"You're wasting your time, Yusuke," Kaisei said. "The kid's impossible."

"You men are impossible!" Fubuki snapped. "Come on Akira, let's go."

Fubuki held out a hand to Akira and, with no better ideas occurring to her, she accepted the offer, allowing Fubuki to guide her by the hand away from the others.

"Can Puu carry five people?" she asked numbly as they walked briskly back towards the car.

"Who cares?" Fubuki replied. "They're all being giant assholes right now, let them sort it out themselves."

Akira nodded, feeling strangely relieved to have Fubuki with her: after Yukina, Fubuki was the only other woman she could really talk to at the safe house, and it was nice that she was also an active fighter and present to witness and understand the things Akira was going through.

* * *

Botan had backed up several steps on instinct, but the way Jin was creeping towards her warned her that she could never outrun him: she could not even hope to escape him in the air, as she could remember only too clearly from watching his battles in the Dark Tournament and Demon World Tournament what he was capable of doing to anything airborne.

"You were there the day I awoke, Botan," he said. "I know you were because you're frantic screaming – and your tragic death – were part of what caused me to awaken early in the first place. It's quite interesting that you're alive again: I wonder how that came to pass…?"

Botan tried not to think too much about the tree in the centre of the spooky forest: she was not sure if the Dark Force could read her mind or it was only capable of doing so as long as it was in control of an individual who was capable of reading minds.

"No matter," he said, waving a dismissive hand in a gesture that was so unlike Jin, he almost looked like an entirely different person in that moment. "The point is that you are here and you were there. And you did see her. You were trying to get your hands on her right before your untimely death, were you not?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Jin," she carefully replied. "Because I'm a ferry girl, so technically speaking, I'm already dead, and the only times I've ever seen you, Jin, has been at any of the tournaments you've fought in–"

"Now, now, let's not waste your time and mine with transparent attempts to play innocent and naïve," Jin interrupted her. "You know that the body you see before you now is currently merely a vessel, containing a part of the essence of the ancient known as the "Dark Force"."

Botan was trying desperately to think of a strategy to run away – because, after all, fleeing was her only option at that time – but between her fear, the sickening realization that Jin was completely under the thrall of the enemy and the continuous sounds of screaming, snarling and general bedlam bleeding through the walls around her, it was difficult to concentrate on anything.

"So tell me, Botan, where is that woman?" Jin pressed.

Botan realised that she was going to have to answer him and she would not have long to decide how: she would either have to lie or try to drag out the conversation until she could find a way to escape, and she doubted either strategy would work for long. She knew that trying to fight him off would be pointless – he was infinitely stronger, more agile and faster than she could ever hope to be – and so without the ability to fight or flee, she would have to try to talk her way out of her situation as best she could.

But how could she outsmart an ancient being that specialized in mental and emotional manipulation?

"Panic is nice," he said, smiling in an almost friendly manner. "It has a good, robust flavour – though it doesn't really make for a satisfying meal, as it usually precedes something more substantial, like fear or despair, and those are the flavours I really savour."

"I'm not panicking," Botan lied.

"Tsk, tsk, Botan, you are a terrible liar," Jin immediately replied. "Considering that, don't insult my intelligence by attempting to lie to me now."

Botan opened her mouth and a small squeak came out. She thought that maybe she was safe from harm, that the Dark Force could not actually hurt her as long as she was someone with information it required. As she tried to think how she could use that to her advantage, there was an especially loud crash at one side of the corridor and something burst through one of the walls. Botan screamed on instinct as one of the hellhounds rolled into the hall, trailing an SDF officer with it. She watched in horrified fascination as Ryuhi got to her feet and shot an energy blast at the beast that floored it. It was unclear if the demon creature was dead or not, but it remained still and silent and Ryuhi quickly turned her attention to Jin.

"Your timing is very unfortunate, soldier," Jin warned her.

Ryuhi shot Botan a knowing look before jumping at Jin. It was unlike any of the SDF to ever be lenient towards her, but Botan did not pause to contemplate why Ryuhi was creating a distraction to allow for her escape, instead leaping onto her oar and fleeing the area as quickly and quietly as she possibly could.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** Fubuki and Akira share some girl talk, Spirit World is fully at war and the casualties are stacking up, with Botan in a critical condition after an altercation with a hellhound. Koenma and his father disagree about how to handle the situation, but time for arguing is running out. Yusuke calls out Akira as Botan and Ayame have a showdown in Spirit World and Shogo is still trying to offer his services to (very specific) people in the safe house. **Chapter 30 – Fall Back**


	30. Fall Back

**Chapter 30 – Fall Back**

"Men can be assholes sometimes. But you already know that, right?"

"Well yes, of course I do. I didn't think you did though. You're so close to your brother and you spend so much time around Kurama."

"My brother is my brother – he's family – that's different. And Kurama isn't like other men. You can see that too though, right?"

"Um, yes?"

"Yeah."

Akira peered over at the speedometer, though she was not really sure why: not only did she not know what an ideal or legal driving speed was for the road they were on, but she had no idea how the numbers even related to real life, as she had no real understanding of how speed was measured. She decided that Fubuki was driving too fast, but again she supposed it was not really a matter for concern, as after the disaster in the city, they were unlikely to encounter any speed traps on the road back to the safe house.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me you were a girl before now."

Akira moved her eyes to Fubuki, who was keeping her eyes on the road.

"I didn't think I needed to," she replied. "I thought you understood."

"Nobody ever told me if you were a boy or a girl," Fubuki said. "And when I first met you, you had no hair and you wore…"

Fubuki stole two, brief, glances at Akira.

"That baggy ninja outfit you're wearing right now," she finished.

Akira looked down at herself, but failed to see what Fubuki was referencing.

"These are practical clothes for fighting in," she pointed out. "Why am I less of a girl for wearing them? Would you rather I went around in a kimono all the time like my mom?"

"No, don't be silly!" Fubuki quickly replied. "But you don't have to dress like… Well like Hiei, if I'm being honest…"

"I'm not dressed like Hiei."

"You kind of are."

"No."

Akira looked down at herself again. Her clothes were quite plain, black and loose fitting, but she supposed that, with her narrow, lace-up ankle boots and the bagginess of her outfit, it was slightly similar to the clothes Hiei wore. She then looked over at Fubuki in the hope of finding an idea for how she could change her clothing to look less like Hiei. Fubuki was wearing short tan boots with a slight heel, incredibly revealing royal blue yoga pants, an equally skin-tight and vaguely transparent white vest and an open, loose-fitting tracksuit top that was neither wind nor waterproof and appeared to have little practical purpose.

"I don't think I could dress like you do," she concluded.

Fubuki smiled as though Akira had just complemented her, but Akira had not meant her words in that way: the thought of walking around in such a revealing outfit made her feel terrified, like those dreams of turning up in a public place and discovering she was naked. Fubuki, however, appeared not to think that way: and that, Akira supposed, was just another reason why she liked Fubuki as much as she did. In situations and circumstances where she would panic and get flustered, Fubuki was completely calm and in control. Things that worried Akira barely seemed to even register with Fubuki, and Akira wanted to know why that was and how she could be more carefree and confident like Fubuki was.

"You could do something better with your hair," Fubuki said.

"Now you sound like my mom," Akira moaned.

"Well, maybe you mom has a good point," Fubuki replied. "When the Dark Age is over, you have to let me take you shopping. You already have good taste: you always did a good job with my nail polish and my hair."

"I don't think I could get anything from the shops you go to," Akira said.

"You don't know until you try. Hey, you like butterflies, right?"

"Yeah, they're cool."

"Well right now, you're like a caterpillar, all grubby and dull, but if you let me take you shopping I promise I will turn you into a pretty little butterfly. What do you say to that?"

Akira turned her head towards the side passenger window, watching the countryside whizz by as Fubuki continued to keep her foot pressed down hard on the accelerator. She was curious about what it might be like to behave more girly, but at the same time it seemed like something that could never happen.

"No answer means yes," Fubuki said, her smile evident in her voice. "So it's a date, Tet: you and me, at the end of the Dark Age, going shopping."

Akira smiled, but kept her head turned away. At the end of the Dark Age she would at least be free to go with Fubuki if she wanted to, and that thought alone raised her spirits.

"Hey, why does everyone call you "Tet" anyway?"

Akira's contemplated answering Fubuki honestly, but both girls fell silent when the car thumped over a pothole in the road and the sound of the goblin shouting muffled curses at them from the trunk reminded them both of exactly what their situation was.

* * *

Botan screamed in pain and horror as she was squashed against a wall. After managing to flee Jin she had tried to find Koenma, but he had not been in his office and there had been no trace of either him or George anywhere nearby: and, during her search for her boss, she had ended up being chased into a filing room, along with seven other ferry girls, and they had become trapped there. Three of the girls had lodged their oars through the door-handles, but that was not stopping the hellhounds outside from hurling themselves at the doors, which were starting to bow inwards and crack under the sustained attack. With every bang, the doors cracked and bowed in further, and the girls screamed and leapt closer to the back wall of the room, crushing each other in their panic. Botan had witnessed that the SDF officers were capable of temporarily incapacitating the hellhounds, but could only really take them down in a one-on-one fight: but there were so many of the creatures they were quickly overwhelming any attempts at resistance.

And that was how Botan knew that nobody was going to come to her rescue in her current predicament. She knew then that she had been unable to find Koenma or George because both were fleeing the hellhounds, just like everyone else in Spirit World was. By the number of ferry girls present, it was also clear that there were none out on duty, which was probably because they had all been cornered somewhere by the beasts wreaking havoc on Spirit World. The demon dogs had come from nowhere and brought the organised (if hectic) operations at King Enma's temple to a grinding halt within a matter of hours: and, if they continued at the rate they were progressing, it would not take them much longer to kill off all the ferry girls, incapacitate the SDF and go for Koenma or King Enma himself.

As a large chunk of wood was bashed loose from the door and flew into the room, one of the ferry girls turned to Botan.

"You have to go," she said urgently.

"We all have to go, they'll be in here soon and we'll be trapped if we don't find a way out!" Botan replied.

The ferry girl shook her head frantically.

"No Botan, you have to go," she insisted. "Just you. We'll cover you, but you have to go."

"We all have to–"

"You have a little girl to think about," one of the other ferry girls interrupted her. "And you can get help."

"And you understand demons better than the rest of us," another ferry girl added. "You're the only one who could fight your way out if you had to."

"I can't fight those things!" Botan hurriedly replied. "Even the officers of the SDF are struggling against them!"

"So go and get your friends and bring them back here," yet another ferry girl said. "They can stop this, right?"

Botan shook her head, at a loss for words. She was vaguely aware of one of her fellow ferry girls climbing up onto a filing cabinet at her side, but she was too busy alternating her attention between the determined stares of the others and the gradually disappearing door at the other end of the room. One of the hellhounds began pawing through a hole they had created, its fleshy, vascular foreleg straining between wood panels and its hooked toes grabbing at the air, bony claws extending with every swipe it made. Behind her head she heard the clatter of metal against metal and she finally managed to look away from the door and the other ferry girls, looking back up over her shoulder to see that one of the girls had removed the metal grating from an air duct high in the wall.

"Go this way, Botan!" she said, pointing at the opening.

Botan peered up into the hollow, which seemed to slant upwards, the angle of the incline, the smoothness of the walls and the narrowness of the opening all warning her that she would never be able to climb it.

"I can't do that!" she concluded.

She did not really want to leave her friends, but, since having her daughter, Botan's perspective on self-sacrifice had changed somewhat: she had already seen how profoundly her death had affected Akira the first time around and she was in no hurry to put her little girl through the same stress again. As one of the hellhounds hurled itself at the door and managed to force its head, neck and one leg through the gap, Botan peered up into the air duct again.

Practically, climbing it ought to be impossible, but, motivated by her need to get back to Akira, Botan believed that she could do anything, no matter how impossible.

"I'll give you a boost," the ferry girl on top of the filing cabinet offered.

Botan looked over at the hellhound dragging its second front leg through the splintered wood before turning back to her colleague and nodding her head. She quickly climbed up alongside her friend and stepped onto her proffered hands – yelping involuntarily when the girl shoved her up with surprising force. Botan managed to grab one hand onto a ledge and cling on, the sound of the demonic dogs bursting into the room behind her giving her the energy she needed to haul herself up and over the edge. She began crawling along the level section of air duct she had reached, but it was difficult to block out the screams of her friends or the sickening snarling of the beasts behind her as she went.

There was little room to move inside the air duct and it was quite dark, but Botan did not stop moving, trusting that she would find an exit eventually, and hoping that it took her to an empty or at least temporarily safe room. It was stifling crawling through the narrow passageway and difficult to suppress her panic as she passed over rooms where she could hear ferry girls and ogres alike screaming in terror as they were caught by the hellhounds. She started to think that, by the time she eventually crawled out the other end of the air duct, she would be the only resident of Spirit World left standing.

But Botan did not make it that far.

As she was crawling over a room where she could only hear the faint sound of a growling hellhound, something suddenly punched at the underside of the duct just behind her. She screamed involuntarily, her outburst only sending the beast below her into a frenzy. It began leaping at the duct, bashing it flat behind her. She frantically crawled onwards, hoping to escape the room before the beast managed to correct its aim and hit the section of duct she was actually in: but apparently the beast had never intended to deliver a direct hit, as the flattened air duct behind her came loose of its mounting and began to fall to the ground. Botan scrambled and clawed at the smooth surfaces around her in blind desperation as the duct fell down behind her, gradually creating a backwards, downwards slope beneath her. At a certain point gravity began to take over and she began to slide downwards. At first she thought she had earned a temporary reprieve, her feet landing on the mangled mess of crushed metal ducting behind her, leaving her standing leant forwards: but she only remained that way for an instant before the hellhound battered out the section of duct from beneath her feet and she slid out of the duct completely, landing on the cold, hard, tiled floor below.

Botan turned her head and, for a brief moment, both she and the hellhound paused, staring into each other's eyes. The moment ended when the beast's top lip twitched slightly and Botan leapt to her feet in panic. She summoned her oar and mounted it, launching herself into the air, forgetting that the hellhound had already demonstrated that it was capable of jumping up to the height of the roof of the room. She did not get far before the hellhound leapt at her and caught the end of her kimono in its jaws, tearing loose a chunk of fabric as it fell to the ground again. On its second attempt it took off half the blade of her oar and on its third attempt it clamped its jaws around her left leg, halfway between her ankle and knee. A white shock of pain shot through her, followed by the sickening realisation that a creature that could bite off the end of her oar without any great effort could probably also bite off the end of her leg. As she saw the creature's spine flick out and then start to tilt downwards she quickly focused her energy on lowering her oar in pace with it, dropping to the ground alongside it. Once she was on the ground, she realized that maybe letting the hellhound take her leg might have been a better option, as it thinned its eyes and an image of it shaking her about like a ragdoll flitted through her mind.

She tightened her hold on her oar, her mind racing as she wondered if she could manage to bash the beast over the head with her oar before it continued its assault: but the decision of what to do next was taken out of her hands as something bright hit the hellhound's flank and sent it rolling across the room. Botan tried to stand on instinct, but fell back down and was left staring at the bloody holes in her leg where the hound's enormous fangs had bitten right through her.

"Get up."

"I'm trying to!"

Botan grabbed her oar and used it as a crutch to haul herself to her feet, where she found herself standing face-to-face with the leader of the SDF.

"Listen to me very carefully," he said. "Koenma is in King Enma's throne room along with a select group of the elite powers of Spirit World. You must get to them. Do you think you can manage to get there as you are?"

Botan looked down at her leg again. Her kimono had fallen over the wound, but the tear in the fabric was on the same side as the wound, ragged fabric clinging to blood and creating quite a nauseating visual.

"You have you to get out of here," Captain Ootake insisted.

"Easy for you to say," Botan muttered as she tried to sit onto her unstable oar.

With her oar broken and her nerves shattered, trying to fly was going to be an incredibly difficult task: but Captain Ootake almost threw her into the air and the shock quickly shifted her attention back onto making her escape. She did not look back as she left the leader of the SDF with the hellhound and, as she raced through the temple, flying as fast and high as she could, she tried not to look down at what was happening below her. Instead she took herself to King Enma's office directly, sighing in relief as she finally managed to manoeuvre herself around the guards and into the entrance hall that preceded King Enma's throne room. She wobbled up to the door and made to knock but paused there, her knuckles mere inches from the wood of the door as she realized that there were raised voices arguing beyond the doors. It was odd to hear Koenma shouting back at his father, but it was a desperate time, Botan told herself. She did not relish being in a room with the king and prince as they argued, but the throbbing in her leg reminded her that she did not have time to hesitate for any reason – manners, fear or protocol – and so she knocked and then immediately pushed open the door, floating in.

Koenma and his father did not stop arguing even upon Botan's arrival. George was pressed to the floor by Koenma's side, visibly trembling in fear and the other leaders were either arguing between themselves or else trying to calm Koenma down. Botan kept floating towards them until Koenma finally noticed her presence and acknowledged her.

"Botan, what are you doing here?" he yelped.

"Sir, the situation is getting out of hand," she explained as calmly as possibly could. "The temple has been over-run by hellhounds and Jin is here, but he's working for the enemy."

Koenma's face fell and then warped as his eyes landed on the bloody stain on Botan's kimono by the lower half of her left leg.

"What happened to you?" he asked.

"The hellhounds are everywhere, Sir," she replied. "They're-they're killing people."

"Get yourself to safety, Botan!" Koenma urged. "We need you alive!"

"That's very sweet of you to say Sir, but–"

"You're the only one who can trigger our best weapon against this enemy, and if anything happens to you, not only can we not activate our weapon but it will never function without you!"

Botan momentarily forgot about the pain in her leg and the chaos in Spirit World.

"I really don't appreciate you talking that way, Sir," she said in a low voice.

"Our situation is not so desperate that the only cannon we can launch is a loose one," King Enma said.

"Akira is not a weapon, she's a living person with thoughts and feelings, and she can't just be switched on and off like you're suggesting she ought to be!" Botan snapped.

The room fell silent, but Botan did not really care. Spirit World looked like it was about to fall, so she decided she had nothing to lose by venting a little.

"I have already made this matter clear: I will not leave Spirit World," King Enma said.

"But you are an essential part of Spirit World – you should go somewhere safe until the trouble passes!" Koenma argued.

"I will remain here with the SDF," King Enma insisted. "Everyone else should leave. And whether it is here or in the living world, I do not want that half-demon being unleashed by any means. We have ample resources to fight this enemy without resorting to relying on demons of any kind."

Botan found her eyes wandering to the window behind King Enma's throne. She had never really looked out of it before as usually when she entered his throne room she had her head bowed: but she did look out of it that day and primarily because of what she could see through it.

In the distance, beyond the misty mountains, there was a strange light.

"Dad, you have to see reason!" Koenma begged. "Come with us to the living world. The situation out there in the rest of Spirit World is out of hand! In the living world we have help–"

"I have already made my decision, son," King Enma insisted. "My duty is to stay here and protect this world and your duty is to keep the living world in order."

"I can't leave you here!" Koenma wailed. "And things are in order in the living world!"

As father and son continued arguing around in a circle, Botan found herself increasingly drawn to the distant light. She was starting to feel a little queasy from the wound in her leg and she knew that she ought to take the time to heal it: but instead she quietly left the relative safety of King Enma's throne room – unnoticed – and slipped out of the nearest window, flying as well as she could with a damaged oar and injured leg. Her flight path was a little shaky, but before long she had passed over the fields and left the temple far behind her. As she floated through the winding valley between the misty mountains she gained sight of the source of the glowing light: and although she was entirely surprised by it, she did find herself slowing a halt and taking a moment to stare in fascination and despair at what lay ahead of her.

* * *

As the others gathered back into the safe house for the night, Yusuke lingered in the hallway, waiting for the opportunity he knew would eventually present itself to him. Normally impatience would take over, but he felt quite driven in that moment, and he silently waited in the shadows. He was not about to let some kid make him look like a liar and nor was he about to stand by and watch demons wreak havoc on his hometown – a place where his mother, Keiko's parents and Kuwabara's father were all still in situ – when there was someone else in the house other than him, Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei who was capable of fighting even an S-Class demon.

Finally, after over an hour and a half of waiting, Yusuke saw what he had been waiting for: Akira walking past him to start her shift on guard duty. He silently crept after her, following her out of the house and across the lawn. He thought it a little odd when she turned and moved towards Puu's barn, but he continued regardless, sneaking behind a sakura tree when she stopped in front of Puu, who sleepily raised his head and peered out the open barn doorway at her.

"I know you're following me," she said. "I don't know why, but I know you're there. I suppose I could turn around and talk to you directly, but I thought maybe I'd get a more direct answer from your spirit beast. So Puu: why is Yusuke following me?"

Yusuke stepped out from behind the tree with a sigh.

"I don't really know why Yusuke thought he was hidden behind that tree anyway, Puu," Akira continued. "His shoulders are wider than the tree and the light is behind him: I could see his shadow on the ground ahead of me."

"Okay smartass, I get it," Yusuke said. "You know I'm here. Do you know why I'm here?"

Akira turned around to face him, looking in surprisingly good spirits for someone who ought to be humbled after letting the team down.

"No," she said.

"How about maybe it's because you didn't pull your weight in our last fight," he replied.

Her face changed and for a moment she looked alarmingly like Hiei.

"You mean when you said those horrible things to me and then expected me to be able to concentrate on fighting?" she asked.

"Newsflash kid, the enemy we're facing says distracting crap all the time, and you gotta be able to push through it," Yusuke replied. "And besides, the last time I said those things to you, it made you transform. I was trying to help you."

"Forcing me to do something I don't want to do and can't control isn't helping me," Akira replied. "And the things you said to me in the city were totally different from the things you were saying the day we sparred in the woods."

Yusuke screwed up his face: on both occasions he had spoken to Akira about how Kuwabara had once had a crush on Botan, so he failed to see the difference.

"Well here's the thing: it's still crazy around here and you could still learn how to control it," he said as patiently as he could. "So let's practice."

Akira looked about herself before meeting Yusuke's eyes again.

"Wh-what do you mean?" she asked.

"I'll say something to piss you off, you'll transform, and we'll fight," Yusuke replied.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I don't want to do that."

"You'll never learn how to control it if you don't keep transforming," Yusuke told her.

Akira pointed at the collar on her neck and Yusuke groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Can't we just throw that thing away?" he asked.

She shook her head.

"Well take it off and let's go," Yusuke said.

"I can't take it off," she replied.

Yusuke felt what little patience he had been holding onto vanish and he grabbed a hand at the collar, intent on tearing it off by force. Using the adrenaline rush of his anger he was able to hold onto it for several seconds before finally succumbing to the sharp burning pain it was causing him. As he retracted his hand and noticed actual smoke rising from his fingertips he yelped.

"Gees kid, does it do this to you if you try to take it off?" he asked, moving his eyes to Akira.

She casually wafted a hand at the smoke still lingering around her neck before answering him.

"It does that to me every time I use spirit or demon energy," she said. "It's much worse when I use demon energy though."

Yusuke looked down at his hand again. It actually hurt.

"That's messed up," he said. "You'd really rather deal with this pain than just let go and learn to master your powers?"

"Yes."

Yusuke groaned.

"You're still a weird kid," he concluded.

She stared blankly back at him, which really only made him all the more frustrated with her.

"Well how does that thing come off?" he asked.

"It doesn't really have to come off," she replied, giving him a strange look.

"Okay kid, I'm going into the woods, to the old house, and I'm gonna wait there for five minutes. You get the collar off and come join me, or else," Yusuke said.

"Okay."

Yusuke was a little surprised by Akira's response, but when she ran back towards the house he assumed it meant she was about to do whatever she needed to in order to get the collar off, and so he started into the forest and for the old house. He ran along at an easy pace – because however long it took for Akira to get the collar off, he knew she would easily catch up to him at the speeds she could manage – and shortly found himself in the weedy clearing the old house was set in. He then slowed to a walking pace and began moving around the exterior of the old building, sneering at a bird that was angrily cackling in the trees nearby. It was that sort of noise birds made when someone got too close to their nest or if a cat was nearby. When Yusuke moved around the other side of the building and out of sight of the bird, he could not help but notice that it continued squawking away as though the threat was still present. He muttered how dumb he thought it was under his breath as he moved back around to the front of the building, but when he reached that point he realized that the bird was perhaps not so dense: after all, he was not the threat it was so bothered by.

There was something in the trees almost directly below where the bird was flapping about, something feral that gave off a cold and unusual aura. Yusuke edged closer and shortly found himself looking directly at a pair of glowing eyes. At first he stopped, momentarily transfixed by the intensity of the glare he was under. But he shortly shook himself back to his senses and started towards the creature, only mildly surprised when it took off ahead of him, leading him deeper into the darkness of the trees.

* * *

Botan was not sure how long she had been sitting on her oar in front of the giant tree, but she did know that it was changing very rapidly before her eyes. Leaves were budding and unfurling all over the branches, and the previously dead surrounding trees were all coming back to life too. The fog had vanished and the entire forest was bathed in the warm, pink gold light of the Spirit World sun, the combination of the light and the shiny new leaves growing over the branches of the giant tree made the glow emanating from the tree all the more brilliant. It was a simultaneously a spectacular and dreadful sight. It was beautiful and horrifying and wondrous and terrible. When Botan came to the conclusion that the tree had finally stopped changing – it reached a state of full-cover foliage and multiple heavy, bulbous flowerheads – she was unsure if she felt better or worse. Did the stop mean that all the other ferry girls had died or did it mean some of the ferry girls had made an escape to safety? She both wanted to know and dreaded to find out. Her leg still ached, but in a way she thought that the pain was appropriate for what her fellow ferry girls had no doubt suffered to have created the sight before her.

She started to sink down – and she could not really be sure why, whether it was her own negativity inadvertently causing her to lose altitude or if her own energy reserves had been weakened after all she had been through, making it difficult for her to stay airborne without additional effort – having to duck and lean her way through leafy tree branches before she finally reached the forest floor.

"I've been waiting for you, Botan."

Botan fell the last few feet to the ground, her battered oar vanishing beneath her with a hollow pop. She felt dizzy and her injured leg outright refused to support her weight, and so she remained where she had landed, in an awkward kneeling position, looking up at the glowing tree and the lone figure standing before it.

"What's happening, Ayame?" she asked. "It's all happening so fast, this can't be right!"

"The Dark Force has arrived here a lot stronger than it usually would," Ayame replied. "That's partly because it had to get much stronger than it ever had before in order to take over Demon World this time and it's partly because there were – and there are still – so many S-class demons for it to feed from."

"But it just got here!" Botan wailed. "I thought the SDF had the situation under control, how could they let this happen?"

"The tree is almost complete," Ayame said. "All that's left is for the flowerheads to bloom, and it will be done."

"Wait, what does that mean?"

"It means that you and I are the only ferry girls left now."

Botan stared up at the tree fearfully. It was hard to believe that what Ayame was saying was true, but the hellhounds had certainly torn through King Enma's temple with a ruthless efficiency.

"And there can be only one," Ayame continued. "When there is just one ferry girl left, the flowers will bloom and the tree will reach its optimum state, infused with the energy of all the departed ferry girls."

Botan shook her head.

"I can't do this, Ayame!" she cried. "It's too soon! I'm not ready yet!"

"I thought you might say that," Ayame solemnly replied. "That's why I came here, like this."

She reached into the folds of her kimono and produced a quite ornate katana, the polished blade gleaming in the glow of the tree.

"What's that for?" Botan asked.

"One of us has to die in order for the tree to reach its maximum potential and for the survivor to gain its fullest power," Ayame replied.

Botan ran her eyes over the lethally sharp blade, gulping down her sense of dread.

"B-but we'll come back to life as soon as this is over, right?" she asked nervously.

"Once the energy is returned to the tree, King Enma will be able to recreate the ferry girls," Ayame replied. "But right now, we have to act."

Botan began trying to stand, something about the look in Ayame's eyes worrying her even more. Grabbing at the trees around her, she eventually managed to rise up, holding herself in place by hanging onto a low-hanging branch of the giant tree.

"Botan, whatever happens next, I hope you understand that this was how it had to be," Ayame said.

Botan looked down at the tip of the sword in her friend's hands, her eyes widening slightly when it appeared to move closer to her.

And then, in one smooth movement, Ayame swung the blade around in the air and delivered a fatal blow, the sword penetrating diagonally through her body. Botan gasped as Ayame staggered slightly and dropped to her knees.

"What have you done?" Botan wailed.

"Don't hesitate, Botan," Ayame replied. "Make our deaths count."

Botan opened her mouth to tell Ayame not to say such terrible things, but her voice failed her when the dark-haired ferry girl fell forwards, her body splayed over the gnarled tree roots underfoot, her face looking surprisingly peaceful despite her predicament. At the sound of rustling leaves, Botan looked up, seeing flowerheads bigger than her entire body bursting open all over the tree. They looked inappropriately peaceful and pretty, and filled the air with a sweet scent that reminded Botan of the living world in late Spring time. Once the tree had gone still again, she looked down at Ayame, tears blurring the image of her fallen friend.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do!" she sobbed. "You didn't tell me how I do it! I don't know what to do!"

She snivelled and hugged the tree branch tighter.

"And I'm scared," she admitted. "You never said exactly what would happen to me if I take all the power from this tree."

Botan waited a few seconds before accepting that nobody was going to answer her before sighing and slouching, her injured leg giving way beneath her. She expected to slump to the ground in a miserable heap, but instead she merely sagged slightly, her arms still locked around the tree branch, which held her up. She sighed again and bent her knees further. She was still upright.

Botan frowned slightly before experimentally bending up her injured leg and then her uninjured leg. She was left hanging in the air in a crouching position, but oddly it did not feel as though her arms were supporting her weight. When she started to feel a burning sensation in her arms she moved her eyes to them, still wrapped around the tree branch, but saw no reason for the sensation. She tried to open her arms to free herself but suddenly found that she could not move her arms. She started to panic when the burning feeling intensified and the ache spread up the length of her arms and into her shoulders. She whimpered and swung her uninjured leg about redundantly beneath herself, but she was stuck fast and the pain was getting progressively worse, until finally all she could do was cry out and pray that it would end soon.

* * *

Akira started back through the temple after asking Kurama to remove her collar. The mood in the temple was quite sombre following the attack on Sarayashiki, mostly because the more naïve members of the household – like Kurama's mother and Keiko – had seen most of it on the television news, and they were in a quiet panic about the family members they had left behind. As she began walking down the hall decorated with photographs, she was surprised to find someone else there.

"Oh, hello there!"

Akira slowed to a halt as the man ahead of her stepped into her path. He looked benign enough, but she thought it quite odd that he was loitering in the hall and not sitting with the others.

"I don't think we've been formally introduced," he said. "I'm Shogo Sato, Kaisei and Fubuki's father."

"I know who you are," Akira replied, nodding her head. "It's nice to meet you."

She bowed her head politely and then side-stepped to walk past him: but he mirrored her action, placing himself back into her path.

"Things have been very tense around here lately," he said.

Akira thought that to be quite a redundant remark and so she did not respond to it.

"But maybe I could help lighten the mood a little," he continued after a short pause. "I don't know if my son or my daughter has ever told you, but I have a little talent for palmistry."

"Excuse me, but palmistry isn't a science, Sir" Akira replied.

"I didn't say that it was. I just wondered if you would like me to read your fortune for you?"

"No thank you."

Akira side-stepped in the opposite direction she had previously, and again Shogo moved to block her exit.

"You must be a demon, right?" he asked.

Akira was starting to grow irritated by his continual and pointless interruption.

"If you're the psychic, shouldn't you already know the answer to that?" she responded.

"Ah yes, sarcasm," he said, nodding and smiling meekly. "I see you get your sense of humour from your uncle Hiei."

Akira suppressed a groan: clearly Shogo was not a very good psychic if he thought that Hiei was her uncle.

"Excuse me please, I'm supposed to be on guard duty, I have to go," she said.

She side-stepped again and sighed in relief when Shogo let her pass him: though as she passed him she saw him turn and watch her go.

"Come and see me any time you want your fortune told," he called after her.

"No thank you," she called back without turning around.

"I'll get you yet."

Akira screwed up her face and exited the temple. She thought it was really inappropriate for him to be making light of the situation by flaunting his parlour tricks at such a dire time: but as she started towards the old house, she soon forgot all about him.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** Yusuke, Hiei and Akira team up to track the strange creature through the woods and in Spirit World Botan awakens to find out exactly what happens when a ferry girl absorbs all of the energy of all of the other ferry girls. Then, joining up with the remains of the powers of Spirit World, Botan joins the front line to fight the enemy head-on. **Chapter 31 – Last Stand**

**A/N:** I really went to town with Botan's new powers. But I kind of had to, based on who she's going to have to fight in the final battle, she needed a serious power boost. It was also important that she had unique and weird powers after this, because of the interpretation of the Dark Force's riddles.


	31. Last Stand

**Chapter 31 – Last Stand**

Botan slowly opened her eyes, at first wondering if she had gone blind when her surroundings failed to come into focus. She could not really remember where she was or how she had got there, and it was not until she had managed to push herself up onto one hip that she realized she was in the heart of a forest of spooky dead trees enshrouded in a thick fog. She slowly turned her head to her right, finding one tree infinitely larger than the others and decidedly creepier.

Botan gasped and scrambled to her feet, stumbling over to the base of the tree. She looked about herself frantically for any trace of Ayame, memories of how her friend had ended her own life replaying painfully inside her head. She began calling out to her fellow ferry girl, running around the circumference of the enormous tree twice before accepting that Ayame had gone. At the end of her second lap she spotted the katana Ayame had wielded, the blade dulled by dried blood. She could not be sure what had happened, but the fact still remained that Ayame had died, and before her death, she had been sure that all the other ferry girls were gone too. Looking down at the sword, Botan noticed the browned blood stains on one side of her kimono and she tentatively pulled up the fabric, peering down at her leg.

Botan made an audible noise of surprise when she saw that her leg had healed without any trace of the wound. She checked her right leg just to be sure that she had not been looking at the wrong leg, but she found it to be unharmed too. She was a little confused about how that had happened – either someone had come to help her and take Ayame away, or she had laid unconscious so long that her leg had had time to heal, she concluded. Unsure how much time had passed and remembering how Ayame had told her not to hesitate, Botan held out her hand and summoned her oar, which appeared with a softer, lower-pitched buzz that it usually did. She gripped her hand around it and frowned, the feeling of the wood against her palm seeming different somehow. She turned to look at the handle, her frown only deepening as she found herself looking at a wooden stick that looked nothing like her oar. She looked down towards where the half-chewed blade ought to be, another noise of confusion escaping her throat as she saw a tapered, flat triangle of wood at the end of the stick, making the whole thing look like a giant arrow. She shook her hand and it vanished with the same softened buzz it had appeared with.

Botan made another, louder moan of confusion before jerking her hand to summon her oar, once more finding herself presented with the large wooden arrow. Upon closer inspection of the strange object, she noticed that it appeared to be made of the same charcoal-coloured wood the giant tree had turned when it had started to revive, before the bark had grown over it.

And then Botan remembered that she was supposed to have taken the energy of all the other ferry girls from the tree.

She had not done that, but somehow the energy had gone. Spirit World was still in a dire situation, and, in however long she had been unconscious, it may even have fallen to the Dark Force, which meant the battle would have moved to the living world, and Koenma had probably gone there already, found a way to remove the collar from Akira and forced her to do things she had no desire to do.

Fuelled by the need to avenge her friends and protect her daughter, Botan hopped onto the substitute oar and slowly rose up into the air. Once she was clear of the treetops and the fog she felt a little more sure that her strange new oar was at least a functioning oar, and so she turned towards the misty mountains and focused all of her energy into flying towards them.

Botan screamed shamelessly as she was hurtled through the air at a breakneck speed, rocketing up and over the misty mountains, flashing by the fields and overshooting King Enma's temple by some way before managing to make herself stop. She hovered, midair, breathless and trembling. Her hair had somehow come loose of its ties and her clothes were barely still in place. She had lost her sandals and both of her socks.

"Goodness, what are you?" she asked her oar in a high-pitched, shaky voice.

The oar of course did not reply, and, after a few seconds of staring redundantly at it, Botan sighed, wiped her hands over her face to clear away any strands of hair that had been left wrapped over her nose, and then turned herself around again.

"Okay, let's try that again, shall we?" she said.

She gripped the oar again and focused on taking herself back to the temple at a controlled speed: which, when she started to move, turned into what was usually her top speed. Screaming all the way, Botan flew in a diagonal, descending line, eventually crash-landing into some mercifully soft shrubs in the temple gardens. As she dragged herself out of the greenery she banished her oar and looked about to ensure there was nobody else present: because in that moment, she was as concerned about being seen in such an embarrassing condition as she was with encountering any more hellhounds. Once she was back on her feet she quickly readjusted her kimono to preserve her dignity, she straightened her back and she kept her head high, walking briskly towards the nearest door into the temple.

As soon as she entered the temple, Botan could sense that the situation was worse than it had been before she had left, and on instinct she raised her hands up by one side of her head, summoning her trusty baseball bat. She crept along the wide, high-walled corridor that way for some time before gasping in alarm as she spotted an enormous round shadow on one wall. She stared at it fearfully before lowering her eyes down its length, her panic rising when she saw her own shadow directly beneath it. In a frenzied panic she spun around and swung her baseball bat, expecting it to clobber against some kind of enormous floating ball monster.

Instead, an enormous wooden club smashed right through the wall of the temple.

Botan stared at the enormous hole, her jaw dropping as a stray brick fell to the floor. She then slowly turned her head towards her hands, finding them gripped around the handle of her baseball bat – though the handle was suddenly made of the same wood as her new oar. She lifted her eyes up the length of her weapon, which rapidly widened out into an enormous wooden club, which was easily twelve feet long and ten feet in diameter. She screamed and threw it down, where it landed with an almighty thud onto the tiled floor, the sheer weight of the head of the club creating a small crater in the floor.

Something strange was going on.

Botan tried to summon her baseball bat again, but in doing so, the giant wooden club disappeared from the floor and then reappeared in her hands. She quickly banished it and tried again, hesitating when the giant weapon reappeared in amazement that it felt no heavier than her usual weapon and yet was the size of something a demon in the Dark Tournament would have used as a weapon. She banished it a third time and sighed.

"That's no use to me!" she complained. "I need something smaller and more manageable! Something like those wooden sticks I used to use when I was helping Akira with her lessons with Master Ken, something like–"

Botan stopped abruptly when two wooden sticks appeared, one in each of her hands, both made of the same wood as the club and the oar, and with tidy little leather loops at the base, that were already conveniently hooked around her wrists.

"…Thank you?" she said, looking up at the ceiling.

She continued on, walking normally – there was no point in tip-toeing around or even trying to be stealthy after she had just made such a racket blasting a hole in the temple wall and battering the floor – and before long, she heard the familiar snarling sound of a hellhound, its clawed feet scurrying against tiled flooring, the sounds echoing around the high walls ahead. Botan tightened her grip on the sticks in her hands, glancing back over her shoulder at the mess she had created with her upgraded baseball bat, silently wondering if maybe it had been the best weapon for fighting off the hellhounds: after all, if it could smash through brick and tile so easily, it ought to be able to take a hellhound off its feet. As she turned back however, the demon dog had come into her line of sight and was charging straight at her. It moved so fast she did not have the time to think about how best to ward it off. It leapt at her from some distance away and she frantically swung her arms at it, feeling both surprised and relieved when it yelped and was flung against the wall.

The hellhound fell to the ground and pushed itself back up, growling up at her again.

"Get away from me!" she shrieked, smacking it over the head with one of her sticks.

The hellhound collapsed under the blow, its legs splaying out beneath it in an almost comical way. It was still conscious, but only barely so. At the sound of more snarling and scurrying feet, Botan kicked at the hellhound's shoulder, pausing with her leg still outstretched when her bare foot somehow managed to launch the monster into the air. It landed on its side several feet away and lay still, and so she turned towards the end of the hall again: where she found a pack of at least a dozen hellhounds running towards her.

"I need something else!" she said urgently, looking down at the sticks in her hands. "I need a ranged weapon, something I can throw before they reach me!"

The sticks vanished and a boomerang appeared in her right hand. Her face fell.

"That's not funny!" she said sternly: though she had no idea who she kept talking to. "What am I meant to do with this? I don't want to bring them closer to me!"

When she noticed that the hellhounds were halfway down the hall already Botan threw the boomerang anyway in blind panic. It cut through the air with a whining whistle, and at first she felt short-changed when nothing spectacular happened.

She quickly changed her mind when the boomerang reached the hellhounds.

In a scene that was sickening to watch and listen to, the boomerang cut into the pack of hellhounds – quite literally – lopping off tails, ears, feet and tearing open wounds. The boomerang went straight through the beasts before slowing and reversing direction, spinning back through the demon dogs and causing yet more bloody, squealing mania. Botan yelped and leapt out of the way as the boomerang came at her. It stopped where her hand had been before dropping to the floor with a clatter, where it lay, coated in blood and wrapped with a stranded length of skin. She edged away from it, only able to overlook her disgust when she realized that half of the hellhounds were still mobile and running towards her despite their injuries.

"Okay now I need something to just make this stop!" she wailed.

When her new oar appeared in her hand she nodded.

"Yes, that's a good idea," she said, hopping onto it and rising up to the high roof.

With the combination of the high roof and her newfound speed, she was easily able to escape the hellhounds and take herself into the central atrium of the temple: but when she got there she stopped short, looking around a floor littered with bodies and walls splattered with blood. It was eerily still and silent, with no sign of any enemies. Botan began to drift onwards, surveying the corpses around her to confirm that what she had suspected was true: none of them were ferry girls, SDF officers or Koenma. Thinking about Koenma and how she had left him arguing with his father in the throne room, she altered her course slightly and sped off in that direction, hoping as she went that she would find him still there.

* * *

Hiei grunted as he was forced to alter direction. Whatever was in the woods was not only quick but also incredibly agile. It was turning so quickly and suddenly, he was losing ground on it every time it altered course. He had been chasing it for some time – and he was sure that doing so was ultimately going to lead him back to Akira, just like it had before – but he needed to know exactly what it was. It was unlike anything he had ever felt before, a cold and dark energy that felt, at times, omnipresent in the woods.

"Hey Hiei, what's a nice boy like you doing in a bad neighbourhood like this?"

Hiei growled as Yusuke fell into step alongside him.

"I'm busy," Hiei grumbled.

"Oh yeah?" Yusuke responded. "Me too. I'm chasing after some kinda weird monster."

"Very funny," Hiei groaned.

"I'm not joking," Yusuke replied. "I saw a weird monster in the trees and I started chasing it, because it looked a little bit like those bald mongrels that attacked us outside of Mukuro's place, back in Demon World."

"The hellhounds?" Hiei asked.

"Yeah, those ugly mutts."

"Impossible. The thing we're chasing is no hellhound. Can't you tell that from its aura?"

"I didn't really notice what sort of aura the hellhounds gave off, but I did notice this thing feels a bit like your Dragon of the Darkness Flame."

Hiei almost stumbled upon his surprise at Yusuke's last remark.

"You didn't notice that?" Yusuke asked.

Hiei and Yusuke both cursed as they were forced to alter direction, the elusive creature once more changing direction.

"So what is it?" Yusuke asked.

"You'll find out if you can speed up enough to catch it," Hiei replied with a smirk.

He was bluffing, but Yusuke appeared not to notice, which came as a relief to Hiei. Honestly he had no idea what he was chasing. The last time he had pursued it, it had led him to Akira, but the aura it emitted was not consistent with anything an emiko could generate. It was, as Yusuke had quite rightly pointed out, most similar to the Dragon of the Darkness Flame. It was something Hiei had never encountered before and clearly it had something to do with the Dark Force: and so the fact that it kept appearing and sneaking about in the woods right outside of the safe house was incredibly irritating.

"Damn, whatever the hell it is, it's a slippery bastard!" Yusuke complained as he awkwardly turned and struggled to catch up again after Hiei had managed to change course a little quicker.

"We can't allow it to remain here," Hiei replied. "Whatever it is."

"Do you think it's something sent by the Dark Force?" Yusuke asked.

"It doesn't matter if it is or not," Hiei answered. "We can't let it stay here. It clearly can't be trusted."

"You sound like you really know what it is," Yusuke commented.

"Hn."

"So then why don't you enlighten me: what is it?"

Hiei had a nagging feeling that if he did not answer Yusuke soon – because they were unlikely to catch the slippery pest before Yusuke's patience would run out – that the mazoku would do something stupid like tackle him to the ground and demand an answer. He tried to think of a cutting put-down to distract from the question, but he was shortly saved the bother when he felt another energy approaching.

"Looks like we've got company," he said.

"Oh yeah," Yusuke said. "I asked the creepy kid to come spar with me. I guess she figured out I came out this way instead."

Hiei's face dropped at Yusuke's words: but he could not help but think that Akira's arrival from a different direction suggested that she was nothing to do with the unusual creature in the woods after all. After a few more minutes of running about in a haphazard pattern, the purple-haired emiko streaked past, running perpendicular to the direction Hiei and Yusuke were taking, her face set with determination and focused forward as she crossed their intended path.

"Hey, where are you going?" Yusuke yelled.

Hiei started to tell Yusuke to forget about her but he stumbled to a halt and turned to run after her. Hiei growled and shook his head at their absurdity: the creature was heading in an entirely different direction to the one they were taking, and whilst they ran off the wrong way, Hiei continued his direct pursuit. Yusuke was clearly wasting his time – not only in chasing after Akira instead of the mystery creature, but also in thinking that Akira was any sort of sparring partner. The creature turned again and Hiei followed, moving further away from Yusuke and Akira as he began moving in the opposite direction to them entirely. A few minutes later he turned again. And then again. And again.

Hiei hated how pathetic he felt when he realized that he was running towards Yusuke and Akira, and that the two of them had almost caught up to the source of the unusual aura. The only explanation for their efficiency was that Akira had some sort of understanding of the creature that nobody else did, because presumably it was something to do with her. As they closed in on it, the signal suddenly shot up into the air: apparently it was some sort of flying creature, which only made it all the more of a threat, as both a fast runner and an aerial beast. Hiei finally caught up to the others then, seeing Yusuke start up a tree and Akira leap up through the tree branches with little regard for what she was doing: she seemed not to care that she was climbing too high too quickly, and launching herself off of branches too weak to support her weight and the force she was exerting on them when she pushed herself off of them. Yusuke stopped, halfway up a tree, shielding his head with one arm as a shower of small branches rained down on him. Meanwhile the unusual aura reached the level of the treetops and shot forwards and then began dropping back down to the forest floor. Hiei realized he could continue pursuing it then, but he stopped at the sound of cracking tree branches and a short, sharp yelp of alarm.

He looked up, watching as Akira began falling through the upper branches of the tree. It was really no more than she deserved, he thought to himself, after making such a poor error of judgement; but she had actually been acting in quite a useful manner prior to that by showing that she actually knew how to track the creature – which apparently was not anything to do with her, as it had fled and left her to fall – he begrudgingly moved over to stand beneath the tree, ready to catch her when she inevitably fell. She was trying desperately to hang on to branches that were bending and snapping in her grasp, and before long she had fallen halfway down the tree: but then she suddenly let go, as though she had resigned herself to fall to the ground. Hiei frowned, finding himself actually interested in what she was doing. As she fell freely she flicked both of her hands outwards and then punched the outer sides of her hands towards the tree, coming to a halt almost instantly. Hiei was a little surprised that she had had the presence of mind in her obvious, initial panic to think to draw out her knives and stab them into the tree trunk. She hauled herself up into a crouching position before recovering her weapons and launching herself off the tree trunk in a spinning leap. As she hopped back down through the branches, she stowed her knives with a sleight of hand movement that Hiei's eyes barely caught, before landing lightly on her feet before him.

"What are you looking at?" she asked him, her face and tone both flat.

"I was watching you fail to catch your prey," he replied.

To his surprise, she smiled.

"You thought I was going to fall, didn't you?" she said.

Hiei grunted out a "hn" before darting to one side and putting out his arms, catching Yusuke as he fell from the next tree along.

"Wow Hiei, I never knew you cared," Yusuke said, putting his arms around Hiei's neck.

Hiei snorted and threw him down to the ground, but Yusuke's grin did not falter.

"It got away again," Akira said to Yusuke as he stood up.

"Yeah but it's okay, Hiei knows what it was, and he's gonna tell us how to catch it," Yusuke replied, before turning to Hiei with his hands on his hips and an expectant look on his face.

Hiei pouted at him, something about the askew angle of Yusuke's eyebrows suggesting that he was just being sarcastic, that he already knew Hiei knew nothing about what they had all been pursuing, and that now he just wanted the smug satisfaction of forcing him to admit as much.

"You don't know what it is either, do you?" Akira said, in quite an accusatory tone.

"Do you know what it is?" he snapped back. "I seriously doubt you know what it – or anything else of significance for that matter – is, because your education has consisted primarily or living amongst humans who know nothing of anything!"

"At least I can admit that I don't know what it is…" she grumbled.

"Okay, so none of us knows what it is," Yusuke said before Hiei could reply. "But we got pretty damn close to catching it, and we learned that it can climb trees."

"It can fly," Hiei said.

"No it can't," Akira sulkily retorted. "It ran up a tree, it jumped through the treetops, and then it climbed back down. Whatever it is, it's not an aerial creature."

"Although that's not a bad idea, kid," Yusuke said.

Akira frowned at him, apparently as confused by his remark as Hiei was.

"It's not aerial, but we can be," Yusuke explained. "The next time it comes around, we get Puu and we fly over the trees. That way we should at least be able to get a glimpse of it, even if we can't actually catch it. I might even be able to get a shot at it with my spirit gun if I'm riding Puu – when I'm running flat out and dodging about trying to catch it on foot I can't get a good aim to take a shot at it."

"That's not a bad idea."

Yusuke grinned and turned to Akira, poking her shoulder with his elbow.

"That's as close as you get to getting a compliment from Hiei," he told her.

She looked up at him blankly.

"Never mind…" he said with a sigh. "Next time you sense that thing, come get me, and we'll hunt it together."

Yusuke turned to Hiei.

"You can come too if you want, Hiei," he offered. "But I'm definitely taking Akira. She's followed that thing before and she knows how it moves and how to cut it off."

"It won't always move in the same pattern if it knows you are pursuing it," Hiei said, glowering at Akira.

"It doesn't always move in the same pattern," she replied. "But it does always move in a pattern, and all I need to do is follow it for a little while to figure out which pattern its moving in. After that, I've got it."

"You didn't get it this time though, did you?" Yusuke asked her with a grin.

"Neither did you," she immediately replied. "And I might have caught it if you hadn't interrupted me."

Yusuke laughed at her response before turning to Hiei and laughing again.

"Wow," he said, shaking his head. "This is getting like an episode of the Twilight Zone…"

"What?" Hiei and Akira both asked.

Yusuke started laughing again and Hiei groaned.

* * *

Botan stopped at the foot of the wide staircase up to King Enma's throne room. She was not surprised to see fighting on the stairs, especially as she had been lucky enough to avoid any more enemies on her way there, but she was a little surprised to see that the only defenders of Spirit World left standing were the officers of the SDF – all seven of them – clambering over fallen ogres and guards, and literally brawling it out against yet more hellhounds. The soldiers were managing to throw the beasts off, but they were getting right back up and attacking again. There were only two hellhounds lying still on the steps, versus the score of ogres and half dozen guards.

In the time it had taken her to escape the hellhounds and reach her current location, Botan had given her situation some thought and come to the conclusion that, somehow, quite miraculously, she had managed to absorb the power from the tree. She had no idea how strong that made her compared to anyone or anything else, but her encounter with the hellhounds by the temple entrance had at least taught her that she was strong enough to fight the beasts. She doubted she was stronger than any one member of the SDF, but she was sure that she could help them – in fact, she would have to help them in order to progress any further and recover Koenma.

And so Botan banished her oar and landed on the staircase, before sticking her fingers in her mouth and letting out a loud whistle.

There was a momentary pause in the battle as both the SDF soldiers and the hellhounds were distracted by the noise, before three of the demon dogs started down the stairs towards Botan.

"What are you doing, you fool?" Captain Ootake shouted down to her. "Get out of here!"

"Well now, that's just bad manners," Botan complained. "I come here to help you, and you're just rude to me."

She held out a hand, a long wooden stick appearing that looked like her oar without the blade. She had not expected that particular item to appear, but she was starting to learn that her attempts to summon a weapon would result in whatever some external force thought was the correct weapon for her situation appearing.

"Though I probably shouldn't expect any better from you all," she continued, before swinging the stick at the first hellhound to reach her, smacking it in the flank and sending it crashing into the wall. "You've never exactly been polite to me."

She swung the stick in the opposite direction, hitting her second attacker into the other wall.

"For years you ignored me, because you thought I, as a ferry girl, was insignificant."

Botan lunged her stick straight forwards at her third attacker, stabbing the end into the open jaws of the monster, which impaled itself on the stick with the momentum of its movements.

"You only acknowledged me after you got involved with trying to kill Yusuke."

She threw down her stick, which had stabbed right through the hellhound, and held out her hands again, not entirely surprised when her two short sticks appeared, the leather handles already looped over her wrists.

"And then all you did was brand me as a traitor for dealing with demons."

She started up the steps, taking down a fourth hellhound with two swings of her arms as it leapt at her.

"And then you branded me a demon-loving woman of loose morals when you found out I was with child."

Botan placed the flats of her hands down against a step two up from the one she was standing on and jumped up, kicking her feet out behind her and successfully kicking down a hellhound that had tried to sneak up behind her.

"And when my little pumpkin demonstrated that she might actually be stronger than you, you all panicked and treated her like an animal and you treated me like an object!"

Fuelled by anger, Botan punched at a hellhound in front of her, her eyes widening when its head snapped to one side and it tripped over, falling down several steps before groggily rising to its feet again.

"What have you done?" Ootake asked as Botan finally reached the SDF.

"Never mind what I've done," she replied. "What have you not done?"

Ootake faltered slightly and Botan ground out a high-pitched growl of frustration.

"You were supposed to be protecting Spirit World!" she snapped. "But the whole world has collapsed in a matter of hours! You told Lord Koenma that you had the situation under control and in hand!"

"Hey, we did have the situation under control and in hand!" Rinbai barked at her.

Botan gave him a withering look before purposefully looking up and down the bloodied staircase.

"They just moved so fast," Ryuhi said quietly. "They took us by surprise, and they were so numerous, we were forced to retreat."

"We've kept them away from King Enma," Sorai pointed out.

"Yes, at the expense of letting everyone else in Spirit World die," Botan flatly answered him.

"You're still alive," Saito said. "Though maybe that's because you've gained a little strength from having a little demon in you."

Botan's face dropped. After watching all of her friends die, she was not about to endure any more crude abuse from Saito.

"Sir, would you say that stage three of the Dark Age is almost over?" she asked, turning to Ootake.

"Unless King Enma can drive these monsters out then yes," he replied. "Spirit World will fall and stage three will be over."

"In that case, Spirit World no longer holds jurisdiction over the other worlds, right?" she asked.

"Yes, theoretically that is how things will be for now until we can put an end to the Dark Age and–"

"Oh good. In that case, I suppose we could say the hierarchy of power in Spirit World is no longer a case of King Enma ranking up here."

Botan held a hand up above her head, moving narrowed, scornful pink eyes to Saito.

"The SDF ranking about here," she continued, lowering her hand slightly. "And everyone else ranking all the way down here."

She stamped her bare foot down onto the paw of a hellhound that had been crawling along on its belly towards them, drawing a pitiful yelp from the beast.

"Right now, we could probably just say that everybody ranks about here," she finished, drawing her hand in an even line in the air before her.

"What's your point?" Ootake asked her.

"My point is, if we are all equal, with nobody having any control or rank over anyone else, then none of us can control anyone or enforce any rules over anyone else."

Ootake's substantial moustache twitched, but he reluctantly nodded, his insistence on following procedure forcing him to agree with her against his own personal preferences.

"Then let's stop the name-calling, the bullying, the harassing and outright bad manners!" Botan said sternly. "It might be the end of civilization in Spirit World, but it's not the end of civilized behaviour!"

Botan felt a little odd lecturing the entirety of the SDF, but they all looked so meek that it also felt strangely nice to see them subdued after what they had put Akira through over the last four years.

"Now if we are going to salvage this situation and defeat this tyrant, we need to work together," she said. "The first thing we need to do is to go up these stairs and get King Enma and Lord Koenma, and then all of us – all ten of us – are going to the living world and we will join up with the resistance there. From there we will prepare to make our last stand against the Dark Force. Does anybody have any questions?"

"Yes, I do," Oho said. "I just wondered how exactly we can get King Enma to leave his post when he already said he won't–"

"Okay, let's go."

Oho held up a finger as though to continue her question, but Botan ignored her, summoning her oar and jumping onto it. She did not hesitate to streak up the stairwell, forcing the SDF to race after her. Despite their efforts however, Botan still reached King Enma's throne room far ahead of them, where she found the king and his son still locked in an argument and George still grovelling at their feet.

"I really hope I was only unconscious for half an hour and not half a week…" she grumbled, before swooping in to hover next to Koenma. "Excuse me Sirs, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I've come to tell you both–"

"Do not interrupt us," King Enma boomed.

"I don't have a choice," Botan argued back.

She paused just long enough to consider that she had, in just that one day, done a lot of bold and outrageous things she never would have dreamed about doing in the past, before continuing.

"We have to leave," she insisted. "Right now. If we want to have any chance of surviving this, we have to leave Spirit World."

"That's exactly what I've been trying to say, dad!" Koenma cried.

King Enma stood up abruptly, which caused Botan to duck back, Koenma to stagger back a step and George to press himself harder to the floor in fear. It was rare that King Enma made any rapid movement, and when he stood, it was a stark reminder to everyone just how physically large he was.

"I don't approve of what you have done, ferry girl," he said.

Botan gulped but said nothing. There was a shadow cast over the king's face, obscuring his expression from her view, making it all the harder to know just how much he disapproved of what she had done.

"Dad, I don't think this is the time to discuss that," Koenma said. "We can't change the past and I think it was a good thing that Botan had Akira."

Botan turned her head to her boss, surprised at his words. She had assumed that King Enma was referring to the fact that she had just stolen Spirit World's ability to create ferry girls in order to gain strength.

"Especially now," Koenma continued. "I always thought that Akira was a positive addition to this world and now she has become our best weapon against the Dark Force!"

Botan's face twisted at the sound of Koenma referring to her daughter as a weapon.

"I didn't approve of her having relations with a demon and producing a child," King Enma said. "But that was not what I was referring to in this instance."

Botan grinned nervously at the king as Koenma gave her a strange look.

"Well, Sir, I was only able to do what I have because all the other ferry girls have already been killed," she explained. "Surely that tells you how bad things have gotten here?"

"That tells me the Dark Force has done what it always does when it reaches this realm," King Enma replied. "It does not tell me that the situation here is hopeless or that the fight for Spirit World is over."

As he finished speaking, the entire SDF came running into the room, all lining up next to Botan before their leader stepped forward to address King Enma directly.

"Sir, the situation is out of our hands," he said. "The enemy is stronger than it ever has been and we can't force it back from this position. I suggest a tactical retreat."

Botan turned to King Enma and nodded her head.

"I won't leave my post," King Enma announced, before sitting back down.

"Dad!" Koenma wailed.

"We have to get out of here," Ryuhi said. "We're trapped in here – I didn't think I'd ever say this, but I think Botan is right: we should go the living world and join up with the others and fight the enemy from there."

"Son, you should go," King Enma said.

"But dad–" Koenma began.

"I will stay here and hold the enemy back as long as I can," King Enma cut him off. "You must go with the others."

Koenma's jaw dropped – though miraculously his pacifier did not drop out of his mouth. The SDF soldiers nodded between themselves and started for the window. As they passed, Ryuhi picked Koenma up, and although he struggled, she held onto him with ease, carrying him away from his father. Botan watched the others approach the window before bowing her head to King Enma and lowering her oar.

"Come on, we have to go now," she said, poking a finger at George's back.

The ogre peered fearfully up at her from the corner of his eye.

"Quickly!" she urged.

He whimpered pitifully but crawled onto her oar, wrapping his arms and legs around the triangular end. She then lifted off and flew over to the window, stopping there alongside the others. They were all turned and looking back the way and so Botan copied their action, turning in the air to see what they were looking at.

"Sir?" Oho said. "Are we going?"

Captain Ootake was lingering back by King Enma's throne, and he remained there, looking up at his leader for a long moment before turning to his team and answering.

"I will stay here and assist King Enma in any way that I can," he said. "It's my duty to. Ryuhi, I'm putting you in charge in my absence. The six of you should go. We will meet again when this is all over."

"Yes Sir!"

Botan flinched back as all six SDF officers barked out their reply and George almost fell off her oar. Then, without any further hesitation, the soldiers leapt out the window, Koenma's last cry of complaint dying in the wind as he was carried away from the temple. Botan shot out the window after them, catching up to them as they landed on a short road leading to a portal to the living world that would take them close to Genkai's temple. There Botan pried George from her oar and then banished it, continuing on foot. Ryuhi was still carrying Koenma, who was still complaining – albeit with far less vigour than he had been back in the throne room – and George was quite skittish on his feet, but they progressed at a steady pace, only stopping when a single hellhound jumped down onto the road ahead of them from a pathway higher up.

"Let me take care of this," Saito said confidently. "I've seen off more of these mutts than anyone here."

Botan silently wondered if he had managed to see off more hellhounds than she had, but she said nothing. Saito started to move forwards, but he stopped when another hellhound leapt down onto the road. The familiar sound of snarling and scurrying clawed feet filled the air, and Botan muttered out an involuntarily "oh dear". She held out her hands, expecting something useful to appear: but nothing did. She started to panic, the idea that the power she had inherited might be limited occurring to her, and the sight of several more hellhounds dropping onto the road ahead did little to ease her mounting concerns.

"Come on!" she whispered urgently. "Give me something! Anything!"

But still nothing appeared. She could not even summon her oar back. In her panic she barely noticed the gust of wind that passed over her, only paying it any attention when the others around her started muttering and the wind began whipping her loose hair forward over her face. She lifted her head, pushing her hair back with one hand whilst still trying to summon any sort of weapon with her other hand, at first looking around the others, who were all bracing themselves against the wind. She stopped trying to summon a weapon in order to grab onto George, who looked as though he was about to fly away. She thought it odd that everyone else was panicking so much in what seemed to be only a moderate, gusty wind: but she dismissed it as them all being unaccustomed to gusting winds in the same way that she – as a ferry girl accustomed to flying at high speeds in all sorts of weather – was.

However, when a tall figure dressed in white with a shock of red hair landed on the road at the front of the hoard of hellhounds, Botan quickly changed her mind.

"This was so easy, it wasn't even fun," Jin said. "Taking over Spirit World was child's play. I broke it down in a matter of hours: now how long do you think this, the last stand for my least favourite of all three worlds, will last?"

"Ten seconds, you arrogant demon bastard!" Shun-Jun yelled.

Ryuhi pushed Koenma into George's arms and then joined her five colleagues in firing rapid energy blasts at Jin. Botan watched the wind demon skip and flip and avoid every single attack, moving almost mockingly slow, as though to torment his attackers with his superior agility. When it became apparent that the SDF soldiers – all apparently still tired from fighting the hellhounds – were toiling, Botan began trying desperately to summon a weapon again.

"Yes Botan, get your oar and get me out of here!" Koenma yelled at her.

She shot him a disapproving look, but he appeared not to care. When she found that she was still unable to summon anything – including her oar – she began shaking out her sleeves, her notebook falling to the road, followed by several other small items and gadgets she usually kept concealed about her person. Eventually she uncovered the only one thing that was potentially useful – the concentration ring – and she hurriedly slipped it onto her finger. She then looked down at her hand, which she was holding palm up in the air ahead of herself.

"Okay, if you won't give me a weapon, can you at least give me an extra shot of a spirit gun?" she asked.

A small ball of light illuminated over her index finger and she sighed in despair.

"What are you doing?" Koenma asked her.

Apparently she still only had a single shot using the spirit gun, or else the tree's powers had indeed faded. With the help of the concentration ring, even with her own powers she reasoned that she ought to be able to take out some of the hellhounds – she would never get a clear shot at Jin – and so she lifted her head and stepped forwards.

"Botan, you're not a fighter!" Koenma yelled after her. "Get out of the way before you get hurt!"

Botan rolled her eyes and raised her hand, positioning herself the way she had seen Yusuke do so many times before, readying herself to launch her attack into the heart of the hellhounds. She focused all of her energy into her finger, finding that she could do so much faster than usual.

"Botan, be careful!" Koenma cried.

Botan sighed and then fired her attack.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** Botan starts to appreciate just how strong she has become, Hiei experiences something quite odd when he actually looks Akira in the eye and Kurama tells Yusuke something that leaves him reeling. **Chapter 32 – The Last Ferry Girl**

**A/N: **I've decided to also bring forward the full explanation for the origin of the tree Botan took her powers from. I was going to wait until later on, but again I think it might be better to lay it out now, because it will probably also help lay the groundwork for the final showdown, which I'd rather do gradually than suddenly.


End file.
